Publications associées à Control-Free Mechanical Oscillator Powered by Shape Memory Alloys

Inversing the actuation cycle of dielectric elastomer actuators for a facial prosthesis

Paolo Germano, Yves Perriard, Yoan René Cyrille Civet, Alexis Boegli, Thomas Guillaume Martinez, Stefania Maria Aliki Konstantinidi, Quentin Philippe Mario De Menech

Dielectric Elastomer Actuators (DEAs) are a type of smart material described as compliant capacitors. They show impressive performances as soft actuators, such as a high strain and fast response. Nonetheless, replicating natural muscle function with DEAs h ...

Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)2024

Experimental observation of topological transition in linear and nonlinear parametric oscillators

Romain Christophe Rémy Fleury, Benjamin Apffel

Parametric oscillators are examples of externally driven systems that can exhibit two stable states with opposite phase depending on the initial conditions. In this work, we propose to study what happens when the external forcing is perturbed by a continuo ...

2024

Nanomechanical resonators with low dissipation for quantum optomechanics

Alberto Beccari

Fields of technology as diverse as microwave filter construction, characterization of material interfaces with atomic precision, and detection of gravitational waves from astronomical sources employ mechanical resonators at their core. The utility of mecha ...

EPFL2023

Fabrication and Characterization of the Kirigami-Inspired SMA-Powered Actuator

Yves Perriard, Sean Thomas, Guilain Lionel Germain Lang, Thomas Guillaume Martinez, Marjan Ghorbani

This paper presents an innovative approach to creating Shape Memory Alloys (SMA)-based actuators that are lightweight, compact, and capable of providing large strokes. Inspired by the Kirigami structure, an SMA actuator is designed using the Ω -pattern, wh ...

2023

Electrode Impact on the Electrical Breakdown of Dielectric Elastomer Thin Films

Herbert Shea, Fabio Beco Albuquerque

Dielectric Elastomer Actuators (DEAs) enable the realization of energy-efficient and compact actuator systems. DEAs operate at the kilovolt range with typically microampere-level currents and hence minimize thermal losses in comparison to low voltage/high ...

MDPI2023

Dynamic control of high-voltage actuator arrays by light-pattern projection on photoconductive switches

Herbert Shea, Amir Firouzeh, Vesna Bacheva, Edouard Franck Vincent Gustave Leroy, Aiste Balciunaite

The ability to control high-voltage actuator arrays relies, to date, on expensive microelectronic processes or on individual wiring of each actuator to a single off-chip high-voltage switch. Here we present an alternative approach that uses on-chip photoco ...

SPRINGERNATURE2023

Modeling and analysis of miniaturized magnetorheological valve for fluidic actuation

Sofia Lydia Ntella

Fluidic actuation enables movement in a wide range of mechanical systems, from simple laboratory devices to more complex industrial machinery. Fluids are used to generate motion of mechanical pieces. The term "fluids" encompasses two types of technologies: ...

EPFL2023

Synthesis of Novel Integrated Actuators Powered by Shape Memory Alloys

Sean Thomas

In the modern age of miniaturisation, Smart Materials, a type of material that reacts mechanically to a certain stimulus, have become an integral part of this revolution. Among these materials, Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs), which have the highest volumetric ...

EPFL2022

High Permittivity Siloxanes as Promising Materials for Dielectric Elastomer Transducers: From Synthesis to Application

Yauhen Sheima

The speed of change in the modern world is impressive. Within the last 50 years, many devices and technologies have significantly transformed their appearance, intrinsic characteristics and improved their performance. Computers have changed from the size o ...

EPFL2022

Lifetime of dielectric elastomer actuators under DC electric fields

Fabio Beco Albuquerque

Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) are interesting soft actuators compared to other actuation technologies owing to large achievable actuation strains, high energy density and fast actuation. However, because DEAs need to be operated under high electric ...

EPFL2022

Scalable Fabrication and Actuation of a Human Inspired Hand Through 3D Printed Flexures and Combinatorial Actuation

Josephine Anna Eleanor Hughes, Kai Christian Junge, Carlo Bosio

The fabrication and control of robot hands with biologically inspired structure remains challenging due to its cost and complexity. In this paper we explore how widely available FDM printers can be used to fabricate complex hand structures by leveraging co ...

FRONTIERS MEDIA SA2022

Perimeter Modes of Nanomechanical Resonators Exhibit Quality Factors Exceeding 10(9) at Room Temperature

Tobias Kippenberg, Sergey Fedorov, Nils Johan Engelsen, Alberto Beccari, Amirali Arabmoheghi, Guanhao Huang

Systems with low mechanical dissipation are extensively used in precision measurements such as gravitational wave detection, atomic force microscopy, and quantum control of mechanical oscillators via optomechanics and electromechanics. The mechanical quali ...

American Physical Society2022

Fast 3D Modeling of Prosthetic Robotic Hands Based on a Multi-Layer Deformable Design

Daniel Thalmann

Current research of designing prosthetic robotic hands mainly focuses on improving their functionality by devising new mechanical structures and actuation systems. Most of existing work relies on a single structure/system (e.g., bone-only or tissue-only) a ...

WHIOCE PUBLISHING PTE LTD, SINGAPORE2022

Modelling and Sensors for Magnetically-Levitated Disc Drives

Juan Patricio Tomás Peralta Fierro

The development of new industrial applications has diverted the focus of research towards compacter and faster rotatory drives. These requirements push the classical ball-bearings of electric motors to the limits in terms of operational lifetime and fricti ...

EPFL2022

A 4D printed active compliant hinge for potential space applications using shape memory alloys and polymers

Ralph Spolenak, Jamie Paik, Zhenishbek Zhakypov, Jian-Lin Huang

This paper presents the proof-of-concept for a 4D printed active compliant hinge with a selectively variable stiffness for the deployment and reorientation of satellite appendages. We use 4D printing to create an active compliant hinge capable of bending t ...

IOP PUBLISHING LTD2021

An untethered mechanically-intelligent inchworm robot powered by a shape memory alloy oscillator

Paolo Germano, Yves Perriard, Sean Thomas, Thomas Guillaume Martinez

Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) based actuators have become ideal candidates for use in compact and lightweight applications. These smart materials have often been referred to as artificial muscles due to their high work volume density. In this paper, a flexure-b ...

2021

Developments on actuator management, plasma state reconstruction, and control on ASDEX Upgrade

Olivier Sauter, Federico Alberto Alfredo Felici, Mengdi Kong, Simon Van Mulders, Bernhard Sieglin

In present day tokamaks, the role of the control research is to support the physics experiments and to prepare technologies for future devices such as ITER and DEMO. This paper presents the developments done under the MST1 program collaboration on ASDEX Up ...

2021

Designing compliant mechanisms composed of shape memory alloy and actuated by induction heating

Paolo Germano, Yves Perriard, Sean Thomas, Adrien Jean-Michel Thabuis, Thomas Guillaume Martinez

Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) are a type of smart materials that reacts mechanically to heat. Due to their complex behavior, they are often used in a simple geometry such as wires. This constrains the output displacement of the alloy to a simple linear contra ...

2021

Influence of electric field, temperature, humidity, elastomer material, and encapsulation on the lifetime of dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) under DC actuation

Herbert Shea, Fabio Beco Albuquerque

We present the effect of electric field, temperature, humidity, type of elastomer material, and encapsulation on the lifetime of silicone-based dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) under DC electric fields. DEAs are promising soft actuators, but little ha ...

IOP Publishing Ltd2021

Shape programmable multi-stable polymer actuators

Bekir Aksoy

Recent advances in soft actuators have enabled systems that are safer to interact with, better at handling fragile objects, able to produce complex shapes with fewer components. However, being inherently soft differs these actuators from their rigid counte ...

EPFL2021