Increasing the Technology Readiness of a Novel, Scalable Electro-Responsive Soft Actuator

Soft robots address key issues that exist with traditional rigid robots -- safety compliances, morphing capabilities, and adaptive behavior among others. However, soft robots are predominately driven by fluidic soft actuators that require tethering to an external reservoir, restricting mobility of these soft robotic systems. To address the mobility issues of frequently used soft actuators, I will synthesize an electro-responsive scalable soft actuator and test this actuator under extreme environments to ensure its versatility. Utilizing the volumetric expansion that arises from the liquid-to-gas phase change, I have synthesized multi-core shell soft microcapsule actuators with solvent cores within a hyper elastic polymeric shell. These thermo-responsive soft microcapsule actuators, synthesized using a scalable double emulsion process, range from diameters of 50 microns up to 3000 microns. When alone, these microcapsule actuators act as microscopic soft actuators, and when a large amount of the microcapsule actuators are embedded within an uncured polymeric matrix, the mixture can be 3D printed and molded into larger macroscopic soft actuators. However, the solvent inclusions typically evacuate the microcapsule actuator after one actuation sequence, preventing cyclic actuation. To increase the technology readiness of this soft microcapsule actuator, I will implement a gas-impermeable layer onto the microcapsule actuators, based off of 2D nanosheet materials, to prevent solvent escape during actuation. From thereon, I will synthesize a Joule heating elastic material to act as the carrier matrix of these microcapsule actuators, enabling electro-responsivity in the soft macroscale actuators. Finally, I will test this soft composite actuator under a variety of extreme environments, controlling the temperature and humidity, to determine the environmental effects on this novel soft actuator and synthesize insulating materials accordingly to prevent environmental interference. By enhancing this novel actuator to have cyclic and electro-responsive abilities, along with testing the effects of extreme environments, I will put forth a novel, scalable electro-responsive soft actuator which will untether soft robots. This development will largely benefit the fields of biomedical engineering, extraterrestrial research and discovery, and wearable technologies, where soft robotic systems are essential, but largely immobile.

This development will largely benefit the fields of biomedical engineering, extraterrestrial research and discovery, and wearable technologies, where soft robotic systems are essential, but largely immobile.

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