A Pocket‐Sized Ten‐Channel High Voltage Power Supply for Soft Electrostatic Actuators

2022

Article

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As soft electrostatic actuators find applications in bio-inspired robotics, compact and lightweight high voltage electronics that independently address many actuators are required. Here, a pocket-sized, battery-powered, 10-channel high voltage power supply (HVPS) is presented, which independently addresses each channel up to 10 kV. The HVPS uses one HV amplifier to create a HV rail and each output connects to the rail via custom optocouplers that are pulse-width modulated to vary their conductance. These optocouplers distribute charges to and from electrostatic devices at each output, creating a charge-controlled driving scheme that can generate independent and nearly arbitrary actuation waveforms for each channel. The HVPS weighs 250 g and measures 8.4 cm × 13.3 cm × 2 cm, about the size of a smartphone. The HVPS is characterized when driving hydraulically amplified self-healing electrostatic (HASEL) actuators. While powering a 5 nF actuator, the output of the HVPS reaches 8 kV in 100 ms and drives a 1.5 nF actuator at 100 Hz (0 to 5.4 kV). The HVPS powers an active surface consisting of an array of HASELs and generates undulatory locomotion of a soft robotic inchworm, highlighting the potential for compact HV electronics that power multi-degree-of-freedom robotic systems based on electrostatic devices.

@article{Keplinger22-AMT-pocket-sized-hvps,
  title = {A Pocket‐Sized Ten‐Channel High Voltage Power Supply for Soft Electrostatic Actuators},
  author = {Mitchell, Shane K. and Martin, Trent and Keplinger, Christoph},
  journal = {Advanced Materials Technologies},
  volume = {7},
  number = {8},
  month = aug,
  year = {2022},
  doi = {doi.org/10.1002/admt.202101469},
  url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/admt.202101469},
  month_numeric = {8}
}