Design and modeling of an active steerable end effector

William M. Aguilera; Mary I. Frecker

doi:10.1117/12.436502

21 August 2001 Design and modeling of an active steerable end effector

William M. Aguilera, Mary I. Frecker

Proceedings Volume 4326, Smart Structures and Materials 2001: Modeling, Signal Processing, and Control in Smart Structures; (2001) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.436502
Event: SPIE's 8th Annual International Symposium on Smart Structures and Materials, 2001, Newport Beach, CA, United States

Abstract

A model has been developed in MATLAB to design a new active, steerable end-effector. The end-effector design consists of a number of bimorph actuator sections in series with each active layer being individually controlled. Each section may behave as either a bimorph or a unimorph actuator, where in the case of unimorph one of the active layers is passive. By varying the strength and direction of the electric field across each section, a prescribed overall shape can be achieved to allow the user to steer the device. The focus of ths paper is on the model of the end-effector using electroactive polymer (EAP) materials. In the EAP model, the experimental data for the electrostrictive P(VDF-TrFE) copolymer is used to model the non-linear relationship between the electric field and the induced strain. Due to the large deflections achievable with the EAP, a pseudo rigid-body model for large deflections beams is also used. The behavior of piezoelectric ceramic is compared to that of electro-active polymer (EAP). The target application for this steerable device is a small-scale smart surgical instrument for minimally invasive surgery.

Citation Download Citation

William M. Aguilera and Mary I. Frecker "Design and modeling of an active steerable end effector", Proc. SPIE 4326, Smart Structures and Materials 2001: Modeling, Signal Processing, and Control in Smart Structures, (21 August 2001); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.436502

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