DOI: 10.5061/dryad.wm37pvn0t
title: Plasticized electrohydraulic robot autopilots in the deep sea

description: Soft robots, with their compliant bodies, minimal environmental
 disturbance, and ability to withstand ambient pressures, offer promising
 solutions for deep-sea exploration. However, a common challenge of
 stiffening in soft materials impairs their effective actuation in harsh
 conditions. In this work, we integrated a liquid dielectric
 plasticizer within an electrohydraulic soft robot, serving dual critical
 functions as a softening agent to maintain the softness of the polymer
 shell and an electrohydraulic fluid for efficient actuation. Additionally,
 by utilizing the surrounding seawater as alternating electrodes, we
 prevented charge retention in dielectric layers, enabling sustained
 actuation performance. Field tests at depths of ~1360 meters, 3176 meters,
 and ~4071 meters confirmed the robot’s ability to sense the environment,
 navigate complex trajectories, and locomotor capabilities to withstand
 unsteady disturbances. Our work offers a generalized and straightforward
 framework for developing soft materials tailored for deep-sea
 applications, paving the way for soft robots to execute real-world
 missions.
description: # Plasticized electrohydraulic robot autopilots in the deep sea Dataset
 DOI: [10.5061/dryad.wm37pvn0t](10.5061/dryad.wm37pvn0t) *Corresponding
 author emails Guorui Li: [grli@hrbeu.edu.cn](mailto:grli@hrbeu.edu.cn)
 Tiefeng Li [litiefeng@zju.edu.cn](mailto:litiefeng@zju.edu.cn) ##
 Description of the data and file structure ### Files and variables ####
 File: data_of_Fig.2B.xlsx **Description:** Data of the DMA testing results
 of PE films and those immersed for 48 hours in FR3, dimethyl-silicone oil,
 and PAO. ##### Variables * PE，Silicon
 oil-PE，FR3-PE，PAO-PE，Temperature[°C]，Young's modulus[Pa] #### File:
 data_of_Fig.2I.xlsx **Description:** Data of actuation characterization of
 actuators made of PAO with PE, FR3 with PE, and dimethyl-silicone oil with
 PE under various temperatures ##### Variables * PAO, Silicon oil, FR3,
 Tempreture[°C], Actuation[deg], Standard deviation #### File:
 data_of_Fig.2J.xlsx **Description:** Data of actuation characterization of
 actuators made of PAO with PE, FR3 with PE, and dimethyl-silicone oil with
 PE under various hydrostatic pressures ##### Variables * PAO, Silicon oil,
 FR3, Pressure[MPa], Actuation[deg], Standard deviation #### File:
 data_of_Fig.2K.xlsx **Description:** Data of actuation characterization in
 contrast with the design without reversed voltage ##### Variables * With
 voltage reversal, Without voltage reversal,
 Time[Mins], Actuation[deg], Standard deviation #### File:
 data_of_Fig.4C.xlsx **Description:** Data of the real-time altitude of the
 soft robot ##### Variables * Time[s], Altitude[mm] #### File:
 data_of_Fig.4E.xlsx **Description:** Data of the real-time altitude of the
 soft robot ##### Variables * Time[s], Altitude[mm] #### File:
 data_of_Fig.4G.xlsx **Description:** Data of the real-time altitude of the
 soft robot ##### Variables * Time[s], Altitude[mm] #### File:
 data_of_Fig.S2A.xlsx **Description:** Data on the variation of liquid
 viscosities with temperature ##### Variables * PAO, Silicone
 oil, FR3, Temperature[°C], Viscosities[mPa·s] #### File:
 data_of_Fig.S2B.xlsx **Description:** Data on the variation of liquid
 viscosities with hydrostatic pressures at 25℃ ##### Variables *
 PAO, Silicone oil, FR3, Pressure[MPa], Viscosities[mPa·s] #### File:
 data_of_Fig.S4.xlsx **Description:** Data on the mass variation of PE
 samples over time ##### Variables * PAO-PE, FR3-PE, Silicon
 oil-PE, Time[h], Mass[mg], Standard deviation