Modeling and characterization of stiffness controlled robotic legs using dielectric elastomers
Jason Newton,
Jeffrey Morton, Jonathan Clark, and William Oates
Department
of Mechanical Engineering, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32310, USA
A new robotic leg design is presented that utilizes dielectric elastomers (3M VHB 4910) to rapidly control stiffness changes for enhanced mobility and agility of a field demonstrated hexapod robot. A set of electromechanical test are utilized to obtain up to 92% reduction in stiffness that is controlled by an electric field. The results are compared to a finite deformation membrane finite element model to understand and improve field driven stiffness changes for real-time robotic applications.