Overview

Our current research centers on the design and control of cellular artificial muscle actuators for robotic systems. Why cellular artificial muscles? There are several reasons, but consider the following sequence of observations :

1) Robots must interact with their environment using coordinated motions
2) Humans and animals skillfully interact with their environment using skeletal muscle
3) The properties of skeletal muscle arise from its cellular nature

In our research, we have shown that cellular architectures can have important engineering implications for actuator design. From a robotics viewpoint, the advantages of cellular designs include robustness to failure, modularity that accommodates different mechanical structures and required impedances, simplicity of control at the cellular level (e.g. binary), and insensitivity to material nonlinearities (e.g. hysteresis). One possible control scheme for such systems is stochastic control. Our current actuator design efforts are described in the Current Projects section.

Note that an actuator is any device that provides controllable motion. The traditional actuation technologies such as DC motors, AC motors, and hydraulic cylinders have been used successfully for years. Actuators underpin numerous industries, which creates a need for continued innovation. In recent years, however, there has been a growing technological gap between sensors and actuators. Sensor development has shown continued innovation whereas actuator technology has remained fairly stagnant.

Recent innovations in actuators can be attributed more to computing power and low cost, high performance electronics, than to breakthroughs in physical or material technologies. By definition, actuators are mechanical devices. Therefore, these devices will require innovations that are fundamentally physical or architectural in nature. Such a breakthrough is an overarching goal of our research.