Arm-wrestling robot driven by dielectric elastomer actuators

Abstract

On March 7, 2005, the first arm wrestling match of an EAP robotic arm against a human was held during the EAP-inaction session of the EAPAD conference in San Diego. The primary object was to demonstrate the potential of the EAP technology for applications in the field of robotics and bioengineering. The Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (Empa), Switzerland, was one of the three participating organizations in this competition. The presented Empa robot was driven by a system of dielectric elastomer actuators. More than 250 rolled actuators were arranged in two groups according to the human agonist-antagonist operating principle in order to achieve an arm-like rotation movement in both directions. The robot was powered by a computer-controlled high voltage amplifier. The rotary motion of the arm was performed by electrical activation respectively deactivation of the corresponding actuator group.