An international collaborative research group at Shibaura Institute of Technology, the University of Electro-Communications, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne has developed a soft pump that can move the liquid in the flow path electrically driven.
The pump developed this time is entirely made of a soft material such as silicone elastomer, and can expand and contract as well as bend.It is an epoch-making small elastic pump that has the features of flexibility, silence, and light weight (about 1 gram) compared to the conventional hard, noisy, and bulky pump, and can output the same as the conventional one.
Inside there is a 1 mm diameter channel and a row of electrodes, which are filled with a dielectric liquid.When a voltage is applied to the dielectric liquid, electrons are ejected from the electrodes and charge the molecules that make up the dielectric liquid.The charged molecules are attracted to other electrodes, moving other liquids in the flow path and creating a flow in the flow path.
In recent years, various soft or elastic parts have been developed in order to realize a "soft robot" that is attracting attention as a robot that can adapt to human life, but there is no one that supports pumps. It is said that it was.If it is connected to a heavy pump, it will not be possible to secure autonomy, but if this small telescopic pump is used, it will be possible to manufacture an autonomous soft robot.
In addition, it can be applied to lightweight powered suits, smart clothing, etc., and is expected to play a major role in the realization of robots that are compatible with human life.
Paper information:[Nature] Stretchable pumps for soft machines
