All PDMS pneumatic balloon actuators for bidirectional motion of micro finger

Author

Jeong, Ok Chan ; Kusuda, Shinya ; Konishi, Satoshi

Author_Institution

Center of Promotion of the COE program, Ritsumeikan Univ., Japan

fYear

2005

fDate

30 Jan.-3 Feb. 2005

Firstpage

407

Lastpage

410

Abstract

This paper decribes design, fabrication, and characteristics of all PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) pneumatic balloon actuators for the bidirectional motion of the microfinger. The actuation mechanism of the balloon actuator is based on pressure-dependent swelling and saturation phenomena of two flexible diaphragms with different thicknesses. Two types of microfingers with balloon actuators are fabricated by the simple silicon molding process and pneumatically tested. From the pneumatic test result, it is confirmed that the out-of-plane motion of the microfinger depends on the thickness of the bottom diaphragm of pneumatic balloon actuators. When the applied pressure is 50 kPa, the generated force and the bending angle of type A finger are 0.17 mN and 59°, respectively.

Keywords

microactuators; moulding; pneumatic actuators; polymers; 50 kPa; PDMS pneumatic balloon actuators; actuation mechanism; bidirectional motion; diaphragm thickness; micro finger; out-of-plane motion; pneumatic test; polydimethylsiloxane pneumatic balloon actuators; pressure-dependent swelling; saturation phenomena; silicon molding process; Drugs; Fabrication; Fingers; Force control; Mechanical engineering; Pneumatic actuators; Robots; Shape; Silicon; Testing;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, 2005. MEMS 2005. 18th IEEE International Conference on

ISSN

1084-6999

Print_ISBN

0-7803-8732-5

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/MEMSYS.2005.1453953

Filename

1453953