This presentation describes the design, manufacturing and testing of an inflatable Dielectric Elastomer Generators (DEGs) with a stadium shape that is intended to be used as integrated prime-mover and power-take-off system of a submerged-membrane pressure-differential Ocean Wave Energy Converter (OWEC). Results highlight the good performances of the developed stadium-shape DEG and its potentialities within the considered OWEC.
Nowadays, several industrial manufacturing processes imply direct cooperation between human operators and robots. This increases production and quality while improving the working conditions. However, the possible presence of physical contact between humans and robots asks for the study and introduction of new technical solutions that aim at guaranteeing a safe Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). Specifically, in recent years, different sensing devices have been developed for collision avoidance monitoring in HRI applications. Generally, common solutions consist of distributed resistive or capacitive sensors networks connected to a central electronic reading board, resulting in a cumbersome layout covering the whole parts of the collaborative robots. In this context, this paper presents an innovative tactile and proximity sensing strategy based on a soft-sensor module that can be installed on the collaborative robot parts or surrounding workspace. The developed module consists of a capacitive sensor based on a silicone elastomer membrane with compliant electrodes attached to the surface, disposed homogeneously on a deformable hemisphere-shape made of silicone. Thanks to the geometrical layout, such a sensor allows multidirectional objects detection resulting in a promising non-invasive solution for collisions avoidance in HRI applications. This work reports the design, manufacturing, and preliminary experimental investigation of such a sensor module, evaluating the electrodes geometry and the most relevant features that optimize objects detection distance and directivity sensing performance.
Flexible thin-film Electro-Adhesive Devices (EADs) represent a promising technology with great potential for gripper applications. Generally, the gripping action of an EAD is due to the electrostatic force induced by an electric field produced by applying a voltage across a couple of electrodes that are embedded between dielectric substrates. This paper presents a novel manufacturing process and the experimental characterization of a multilayer electro-adhesive gripper. The proposed device employs highly elastic silicone (PDMS) thin-film as the grasping layer, i.e., the dielectric layer that comes in contact with the grasped object, a carbon-black mixture in a silicone compound for the electrodes, and a rigid polyimide thin-film as the backing layer, i.e., the dielectric layer on the backside of the EAD. A fabrication methodology is illustrated, which starts from a casting of thin conductive electrodes on a polyimide film, followed by a laser-cutting operation to shape the electrodes and a blade casting process to encapsulate the overall system in a PDMS compound. Different prototypes obtained through this manufacturing procedure have been experimentally evaluated through a testing campaign conducted on three groups of specimens, each composed of five identical samples, with a different electrode thickness per group. Samples are tested for electrostatic shear stress and electrical breakdown during the grasping of paper substrates, identifying the best performing EAD group.
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