THE PERFORMANCE AND VERSATILITY OF ROBOTIC MANIPULATORS CAN BE DRAMATICALLY IMPROVED BY THE DEVELOPMENT OF POWERFUL LIGHTWEIGHT AND COMPACT ACTUATORS. MUSCLE HAS PROVED TO BE AN EFFECTIVE ACTUATOR IN A WIDE RANGE OF BIOLOGICAL MOTION CONTROL SYSTEMS. RECENT TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES, PARTICULARLY IN MICRO-FABRICATION, HAVE MADE IT POSSIBLE TO FABRICATE ACTUATORS THAT OFFER SOME OF THE ADVANTAGES OF NATURAL MUSCLE. THIS PAPER SURVEYS RESEARCH IN SEVERAL DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGIES WITH APPLICATION TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF MUSCLE-LIKE ACTUATORS, AND THEN DESCRIBES A DESIGN CONCEPT FOR AN ELECTROSTATIC ARTIFICIAL MUSCLE THAT CAN BE FABRICATED USING CONVENTIONAL MICROFABRICATION TECHNOLOGY.
| Number of Pages : | 27 |
| Published : | 06/01/1991 |
