Artificial muscles - Low voltage electrohydraulic actuators for untethered robotics

We present hydraulically amplified low-voltage electrostatic (HALVE) actuators that match mammalian skeletal muscles in average power density (50.5 watts per kilogram) and peak strain rate (971% per second) at a 4.9 times lower driving voltage (1100 volts) compared to the state of the art. HALVE actuators are safe to touch, are waterproof, and exhibit self-clearing properties. We characterize, model, and validate key performance metrics of our actuator. Last, we demonstrate the utility of HALVE actuators on a robotic gripper and a soft robotic swimmer.

Learn more about the publication: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/s...

Soft Robotics Lab: https://srl.ethz.ch/

ETH Zurich press article: https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/et...