Modeling and Characterization of Tensegrity Structures Integrating Dielectric Elastomer Actuators

Tensegrity structures, architectures that consist of elastic cables and rigid rods, have attracted attention as a building block of robots because of their compliance, lightweight properties, and mechanical robustness. This article describes a method to create electroactive tensegrity structures that employs a dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) as the actuation principle. Two different types of DEA‐tensegrities are considered herein: a membrane type and a cable type. In these devices, DEAs are made of an acrylic elastomer (3 m , VHB 4905) and a stretchable conductive film (Adhesives Research, ARcare 90336) used as dielectric and electrode layers, respectively. An analytical model of DEA‐tensegrities is built that guides the fabrication of experimental devices. The fabricated DEA‐tensegrities are characterized by the actuation strain in the height direction. As a result, voltage‐controlled actuation strains of 7.5% and 2.0% are observed at 10 kV for membrane type and cable type DEA‐tensegrity, respectively, while the model prediction captures the actuation characteristics.