A Novel Activation Strategy for Improving the Performance of Dielectric Elastomer Actuators

Actuators based on Dielectric Elastomers are a promising technology in robotic and mechatronic applications. The overall actuator performances are influenced by the non-linear and highly coupled electrical and mechanical responses of the employed materials. To date, the practical dynamic response and controllability of actuators based on Dielectric Elastomers are limited by the inadequacy of the employed activation strategy, which is based on voltage-regulated converters. In this paper a novel activation strategy is proposed for Dielectric Elastomer actuators which is based on a driving circuit derived from the flyback converter topology. A closed-loop position controller for Dielectric Elastomer actuators, which employs this driving circuit is also presented. Experimental results are reported which show that the proposed driving circuit outperforms the traditional strategies in terms of fast open-loop actuator activation and good closed-loop actuator controllability.