Fast reversible NiTi fibers for use in microrobotics

Author

Hunter, Ian W. ; Lafontaine, Serge ; Hollerbach, John M. ; Hunter, Peter J.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Biomed. Eng., McGill Univ., Montreal, Que., Canada

fYear

1991

fDate

30 Jan-2 Feb 1991

Firstpage

166

Lastpage

170

Abstract

The authors report the experimentally determined characteristics of NiTi fibers which have been modified using a preparation procedure in which the fibers were subjected to brief very large current pulses during forced stretching. The modified fibers contract and relax fast enough to be of use in microrobotics. The modified fibers generate a maximum extrapolated stress of 230 MN/m² and yield a peak measured power/mass approaching 50 kW/kg. The theory of a micro-actuator incorporating the modified fibers is presented

Keywords

energy storage devices; fibres; micromechanical devices; nickel compounds; robots; shape memory effects; extrapolated stress of 230 MN/m²; fast contracting fibers; forced stretching; large current pulses; micro-actuator; microrobotics; modified fibers; power/mass ratio; preparation; reversible NiTi fibers; Bandwidth; Capacitive sensors; Clamps; Cooling; Force control; Optical fiber theory; Robots; Stress; Transducers; Transistors;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, 1991, MEMS '91, Proceedings. An Investigation of Micro Structures, Sensors, Actuators, Machines and Robots. IEEE

Conference_Location

Nara

Print_ISBN

0-87942-641-1

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/MEMSYS.1991.114789

Filename

114789