Portable, High-Frequency, and High-Voltage Control Circuits for Untethered Miniature Robots Driven by Dielectric Elastomer Actuators

TL;DR

This paper introduces a compact, high-voltage, high-frequency control circuit for dielectric elastomer actuators, enabling untethered miniature robots to crawl and transmit data, advancing portable soft robotic applications.

Contribution

It presents a novel low-voltage control circuit design that effectively drives high-voltage DEAs in untethered robots, combining high-frequency operation with lightweight construction.

Findings

Robust control circuit operates up to 1 kHz frequency.

Untethered robot achieves crawling and data transmission.

Circuit supports voltages up to 1.8 kV in a compact form.

Abstract

In this work, we propose a high-voltage, high-frequency control circuit for the untethered applications of dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs). The circuit board leverages low-voltage resistive components connected in series to control voltages of up to 1.8 kV within a compact size, suitable for frequencies ranging from 0 to 1 kHz. A single-channel control board weighs only 2.5 g. We tested the performance of the control circuit under different load conditions and power supplies. Based on this control circuit, along with a commercial miniature high-voltage power converter, we construct an untethered crawling robot driven by a cylindrical DEA. The 42-g untethered robots successfully obtained crawling locomotion on a bench and within a pipeline at a driving frequency of 15 Hz, while simultaneously transmitting real-time video data via an onboard camera and antenna. Our work provides a practical way to use low-voltage control electronics to achieve the untethered driving of DEAs, and therefore portable and wearable devices.