Soft actuators have received extensive attention in the fields of soft robotics, biomedicine, and intelligence systems owing to their advantages of pliancy, silence, and essential safety. However, most existing soft actuators have only single actuation elements and lack sensing. Therefore, it is difficult for them to perform complex motions with multiple degrees of freedom (multi-DOFs) and high precision. This article reports a miniature columnar dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) with multi-DOF actuation and sensing, which was fabricated with an electroactive polymer acrylic film (Very High Bond [VHB] acrylic film by 3M Company) and carbon black grease electrodes. The arrangement of the simulation electrodes on the VHB was optimized to realize multi-DOF actuation, and the sensing electrodes were configured on the outer part of the DEA to realize real-time sensing. The results showed that the soft actuator can achieve all-round actuation through the selective power of the stimulation electrodes with a controllable voltage. The maximum bending angle and axial strain of the actuator reached 50° and 13%, respectively. Moreover, the deformation modes, direction, and quantity could be precisely measured using the integrative sensing function. In addition, to demonstrate the advantages of the proposed actuator, a manipulator with multiple actuators was designed and controlled to realize different actions of screwing and grasping with sensing. This research is useful not only for the design of multifunctional soft actuators but also for the development of soft robots with flexible, complex, and precisely controllable motions.

中文翻译：

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具有多自由度运动和感知功能的电活性聚合物基软驱动器

软执行器由于其柔顺、安静和基本安全等优点，在软机器人、生物医学和智能系统领域受到广泛关注。然而，大多数现有的软致动器只有单个致动元件并且缺乏传感。因此，它们很难进行多自由度（multi-DOFs）和高精度的复杂运动。本文报道了一种具有多自由度驱动和传感功能的微型柱状介电弹性体致动器 (DEA)，它由电活性聚合物丙烯酸薄膜（3M 公司的超高键合 [VHB] 丙烯酸薄膜）和炭黑油脂电极制成。优化VHB上模拟电极的布置，实现多自由度驱动，传感电极配置在DEA的外部，实现实时传感。结果表明，软驱动器可以通过电压可控的刺激电极的选择性功率实现全方位驱动。执行器的最大弯曲角度和轴向应变分别达到50°和13%。此外，可以使用集成传感功能精确测量变形模式、方向和数量。此外，为了展示所提出的致动器的优势，设计并控制了具有多个致动器的机械手，以实现带有传感的拧紧和抓握的不同动作。这项研究不仅对多功能软执行器的设计有用，而且对开发具有灵活、复杂、