Material and Structural Improvement in Electro-Ribbon Actuators Towards Biomimetic Stacked Architecture

Electro-ribbon zipping actuators harness electro-static and dielectrophoretic forces to bring together insulated electrode ribbons, akin to the action of a zipper. This study explores improvements to the materials used in and design of Electro-Ribbon actuators, aiming to develop high-performance soft actuation building blocks for potential bio-mimetic actuators with stacked architecture. The use of Polyvinylidene fluo-ride co-polymer as a thin insulator between ribbon electrodes is found to significantly improve the generated electrostatic force. Its higher dielectric constant and thinner thickness allow the actuator to perform at lower working voltages while improving actuation time, reducing weight and enhancing efficiency. Additionally, we demonstrate that by constricting the initial zipping angle, the load-lifting capacity can be increased. Beyond enhancing the performance of building block electro-ribbon actuators, this investigation places a primary focus on exploring a stacked configuration for future research and integration into robotic systems.