Intelligent Soft Actuators with Self-Diagnosis Capabilities

nbsp;This project aims to utilize a new soft actuator technology to create an intelligent actuator with self-diagnosis capabilities. Specifically, Artimus Robotics will develop and demonstrate the use of embedded capacitive sensing in their core technology, HASEL actuation technology, to predict and avoid failure. HASEL actuation technology is an electrically controlled, analog, and highly compliant soft actuation system that can be customized for a variety of performance requirements, functionalities, and use cases.nbsp;HASEL actuation technology with self-diagnosis capabilities will directly address a request of this subtopic: development of technologies for enhanced logistics and reliability - Intelligent devices (sensors, actuators, and electronics with self-diagnosis capabilities, calibration on demand, self-healing capabilities, etc.).nbsp;This intelligent actuator will have applications in various ground and launch systems where electromechanical devices are used. With the self-diagnosis capabilities, the HASEL actuator will be instrumental in contributing to Autonomous Operating Technologies in environments where human intervention is not feasible. The self-diagnosis capabilities will help reduce operation and maintenance cost as it is expected that the self-diagnosis capabilities will be used to inform and mitigate impending failure events while still conserving operation conditions, and thus extend lifetime of the device to increase utilization.The key technical objective is to demonstrate the ability to extend the lifetime of a HASEL actuator by monitoring the impedance, recognizing predetermined indicators of failure, and adjusting the driving signal accordingly. The intelligence of the HASEL actuator will be realized through temporal impedance measurements and informed through extensive experimentation to build out large datasets required to find statistically significant indicators of failure.nbsp;