Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
produce EAP materials in various shapes can be exploited to make future mechanisms and devices
using such methods as stereolithography and ink-jet printing techniques. A polymer can be
dissolved in a volatile solvent and ejected drop-by-drop onto various substrates. Such processing
methods offer the potential of making systems and robots in full 3D details that include EAP
actuators allowing rapid prototyping and quick mass production (Bar-Cohen, 2004). A possible
vision for such technology can be the fabrication of insect-like robots that can be made to fly and
pack themselves into a box, ready for shipping, once they are made. These miniature robots may
help to inspect hard-to-reach areas of aircraft structures, where they can be launched to conduct the
required inspection procedures and download information about the structure integrity. Other
examples can be the rapid prototyping of robots with controlled characteristics that follow specific
movie scripts and with the appearance and behavior of the desired artificial actors. The robots'
appearance and behavior can be modified rapidly as needed for the evolving script, and when
changes need to be made, the artificial actors can be rapidly produced with any desired modifica-
tion. Using effective EAP actuators to mimic nature would immensely expand the collection and
functionality of devices and mechanisms that are currently available. Important addition to this
capability can be the application of telepresence combined with virtual reality using haptic
interfaces (Mavroidis et al., 2004). While such capabilities are expected to significantly change
future robots, additional effort is needed to develop robust and effective EAP-based actuators.
Considering the current limitations of artificial muscles and their capability to support biomi-
metic applications, the author posed a challenge to the worldwide science and engineering
community to develop a robotic arm that is actuated by artificial muscles to win an arm-wrestling
match against a human opponent (Figure 20.5) (Chapter 10; Bar-Cohen, 2004). The first compe-
tition was held on March 7, 2005 during the EAP Session of the SPIE's EAP Actuators and Devices
(EAPAD) Conference, which is part of the Smart Structures and Materials Symposium. As
described in Chapter 10, three EAP-actuated arms wrestled against a 17-year-old female student
who won all three matches. Progress in making robotic arms that win a match against humans will
lead to significant benefits, particularly in the medical area of effective prosthetics. A remarkable
contribution would be to see a disabled person jogging to the grocery store using this technology.
Figure 20.5 (See color insert following page 302)
Grand challenge for the development of EAP-actuated
robotics.
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