Dielectric elastomer actuators for tactile displays

In this paper we discuss dielectric elastomer actuators (DEA) as one of the most promising technologies in electroactive polymers (EAP). For tactile display applications a large number of actuator elements is essential. The multilayer technology presented here offers the possibility to build up independent actuators and arrays at a high density within one substrate. The functional principle of these electromechanical transducers provides a simple way to measure the actual deformation. The paper concludes with a concept to determine the active deformation as well as user applied forces.