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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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42 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2001

Androids: application of EAP as artificial muscles to entertainment industry

The classic movie Metropolis (1926), which is nowadays considered a cinema milestone, has shown the possibility to build robots called androids that are science and fiction run together to realize a dream: the human-like robot. In that movie, Dr. Rotwang transforms a simple and cold calculating robot into the body of a beautiful woman. Robots have often been depicted as metal creatures with cold steel bodies, but there is no reason why metals should be the only kind of material for construction of robots. The authors examined the issues related to applying electroactive polymers materials (EAP) to the entertainment industry. EAP are offering attractive characteristics with the potential to produce more realistic models of living creatures at significantly lower cost. This paper seeks to elucidate how EAP might infiltrate and ultimately revolutionize entertainment, showing some applicative examples.

Animatronics↗
NASA NTRS1999

Electrical Impedance of Ionic Polymeric Metal Composites

In recent years the use of ionic polymer metal composites such as Nafion-based platinum ionomers have emerged as electroactive polymer materials with great potential for robotics and other applications. An effective activation of these materials requires understanding of their mechanism of operation. Generally, the material needs to be maintained hydrated to assure its electromechanical activity. To allow the control of the response of the material, a study is underway to investigate the electrical response. Particular emphasis is placed on possible electrochemical reactions and deviations from linear dielectric behavior. Currently, efforts are made to determine the necessary drive characteristics of the source to allow low power operation (< or = 1.0 W) of the material as an actuator.

Leary, S.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Electroactive polymers as artificial muscles - reality and challenges

For many years, electroactive polymers (EAP) received reIatively little attention due to the small number of available materials and their limited actuation capability. The recent emergence of EAP materials with large displacement response changed the potential capability and paradigms of these materials. The main attractive characteristic of EAP is their operational similarity to biological muscles, particularly their resilience and ability to induce large actuation strains. Even though the actuation force of existing EAP materials and their robustness require further improvement, there has already been a series of reported successes. The successful applications that were demonstrated include catheter steering element, miniature manipulator, dust-wiper, miniature robotic arm, and grippers. Some of the currently considered applications may be difficult to accomplish and it is important to scope the requirements to the level that current materials can address. Using EAP to replace existing actuators may be a difficult challenge and therefore it is highly desirable to identify a niche application where it would not need to compete with existing capabilities. The application of these materials as actuators to drive various manipulation, mobility and robotic devices involves multidiscipline including materials, chemistry, electro-mechanics, computers, electronics, etc. This paper reviews the current efforts and the expectations for the future.

Bar-Cohen, Yoseph↗
NASA NTRS2006

Biomimetic actuators using electroactive polymers (EAP) as artificial muscles

Evolution has resolved many of nature's challenges leading to lasting solutions with maximal performance and effective use of resources. Nature's inventions have always inspired human achievements leading to effective materials, structures, tools, mechanisms, processes, algorithms, methods, systems and many other benefits. The field of mimicking nature is known as Biomimetics and one of its topics includes electroactive polymers that gain the moniker artificial muscles. Integrating EAP with embedded sensors, self-repair and many other capabilities that are used in composite materials can add greatly to the capability of smart biomimetic systems. Such development would enable fascinating possibilities potentially turning science fiction ideas into engineering reality.

Electroactive Polymers (EAP)↗
NASA NTRS2011

Directions for Development of the Field of Electroactive Polymer (EAP)

In last few years, the rate of development and advances in the field of EAP has accelerated significantly and it is increasingly getting closer to the point of finding them used in commercial products. Substantial development has been reported in the understanding of their drive mechanisms and the parameters that control their electro-activation behavior. Further, efforts are being made to develop mass production techniques with greatly improved actuation capability and operation durability. The recent efforts to develop energy harvesting techniques, haptic interfacing (including refreshable braille displays), and toys are further increasing the likelihood of finding niches for these materials. In this paper, the author sought to examine the potential directions for the future development of the field of EAP in relation to the state-of-the-art.

actuators↗
NASA NTRS2007

Artificial Muscles Based on Electroactive Polymers as an Enabling Tool in Biomimetics

Evolution has resolved many of nature's challenges leading to working and lasting solutions that employ principles of physics, chemistry, mechanical engineering, materials science, and many other fields of science and engineering. Nature's inventions have always inspired human achievements leading to effective materials, structures, tools, mechanisms, processes, algorithms, methods, systems, and many other benefits. Some of the technologies that have emerged include artificial intelligence, artificial vision, and artificial muscles, where the latter is the moniker for electroactive polymers (EAPs). To take advantage of these materials and make them practical actuators, efforts are made worldwide to develop capabilities that are critical to the field infrastructure. Researchers are developing analytical model and comprehensive understanding of EAP materials response mechanism as well as effective processing and characterization techniques. The field is still in its emerging state and robust materials are still not readily available; however, in recent years, significant progress has been made and commercial products have already started to appear. In the current paper, the state-of-the-art and challenges to artificial muscles as well as their potential application to biomimetic mechanisms and devices are described and discussed.

electroactive polymers↗