Source: https://encrypted.google.com/patents/US8665578
Timestamp: 2018-03-21 14:49:39
Document Index: 474612789

Matched Legal Cases: ['§120', '§120', '§120', '§119', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 200580014841', 'Application No. 200580014841', 'Application No. 2007', 'Application No. 2007', 'Application No. 200580014841']

Patent US8665578 - Electroadhesive devices - Google Patents
Described herein is electroadhesion technology that permits controllable adherence between two objects. Electroadhesion uses electrostatic forces of attraction produced by an electrostatic adhesion voltage, which is applied using electrodes in an electroadhesive device. The electrostatic adhesion voltage...https://www.google.com/patents/US8665578?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US8665578 - Electroadhesive devices
Publication number US8665578 B2
Application number US 13/354,293
Filing date Jan 19, 2012
Also published as EP2033216A2, EP2033216A4, US7551419, US7773363, US8125758, US20080089002, US20100027187, US20100271746, US20120120544, WO2008070201A2, WO2008070201A3
Publication number 13354293, 354293, US 8665578 B2, US 8665578B2, US-B2-8665578, US8665578 B2, US8665578B2
Inventors Ronald E. Pelrine, Harsha Prahlad, Joseph S. Eckerle, Roy D. Kornbluh, Scott E. Stanford
Patent Citations (67), Non-Patent Citations (108), Referenced by (3), Classifications (3), Legal Events (1)
US 8665578 B2
1. An electroadhesive device, comprising:
a first surface region adapted for contact with a first external object;
a second surface region adapted for contact with a second external object, wherein the second surface region is separate from the first surface region, and the second external object is separate from the first external object; and
at least one electrode located proximate to both of said first surface region and said second surface region, said at least one electrode being configured to apply at least one electrostatic adhesion voltage that produces at least one electrostatic force that is suitable to adhere both the first external object to the electroadhesive device and the second external object to the electroadhesive device when the at least one electrostatic adhesion voltage is applied.
2. The electroadhesive device of claim 1, wherein said at least one electrode comprises at least a pair of electrodes.
3. The electroadhesive device of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of said first surface region or said second surface region comprises a deformable surface region.
4. The electroadhesive device of claim 3, wherein said deformable surface region is adapted to move closer to a surface of an external object proximate the deformable surface region when the electrostatic adhesion voltage is applied.
5. The electroadhesive device of claim 3, wherein said deformable surface region includes a material or structure that is bendable but not substantially elastically extendable.
6. The electroadhesive device of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of said first surface region or said second surface region includes a compliant surface adapted to conform to surface features of an external object proximate the compliant surface when the electrostatic adhesion voltage is applied.
7. The electroadhesive device of claim 1, further comprising a controller configured to cause the at least one electroadhesive attraction voltage to be applied to the at least one electrode.
8. The electroadhesive device of claim 7,
wherein the at least one electrode includes a first pair of electrodes proximate the first surface region and a second pair of electrodes proximate the second surface region, and
wherein the controller is configured to separately cause voltage to be applied to the first pair of electrodes and the second pair of electrodes.
9. The electroadhesive device of claim 8, wherein the controller is further configured to: (i) receive an indication of a user input and (ii) cause voltage to be applied to the first pair of electrodes and the second pair of electrodes based on the received indication of the user input such that the electroadhesive device controllably adheres to the first and second external objects.
10. The electroadhesive device of claim 9, further comprising a switch configured to convey the user input to the controller.
11. The electroadhesive device of claim 7, further comprising at least one contact sensor configured to indicate that at least a portion of the first surface region or the second surface region is in contact with an external object, and
wherein the controller is further configured to (i) receive an indication from the contact sensor and (ii) cause voltage to be applied to the at least one electrode such that the portion adheres to the external object in response to receiving the indication.
12. The electroadhesive device of claim 7, further comprising at least one of a photovoltaic panel or a battery electrically connected to the at least one electrode and configured to power the electroadhesive device.
13. The electroadhesive device of claim 1, wherein the first and second surface regions face substantially different directions.
14. The electroadhesive device of claim 1, further comprising an insulating material interposed between separately controllable ones of the at least one electrode.
15. The electroadhesive device of claim 14, wherein the insulating material is shaped as a plate with substantially flat opposing sides and the first and second surface regions are situated on the opposing sides.
16. An electroadhesive device comprising:
an insulating material having a first side and a second side opposing the first side;
a first pair of electrodes disposed on the first side of the insulating material;
a second pair of electrodes disposed on the second side of the insulating material; and
a controller configured to: (i) apply voltage to the first pair of electrodes so as to electrostatically adhere to a first external object proximate the first side of the insulating material, (ii) apply voltage to the second pair of electrodes so as to electrostatically adhere to a second external object proximate the second side of the insulating material, and wherein the controller is configured to separately apply voltage to the first pair of electrodes and the second pair of electrodes.
17. The electroadhesive device of claim 16, wherein at least a portion of the first pair of electrodes or the second pair of electrodes are included in a compliant surface adapted to conform to surface features of an external object proximate the compliant surface when an electrostatic adhesion voltage is applied to the portion of the first pair of electrodes or the second pair of electrodes.
receiving, at a controller of an electroadhesive device, a first indication to activate adhesion in a first surface of the electroadhesive device;
responsive to receiving the first indication, applying voltage to a first pair of electrodes disposed on the first surface;
receiving a second indication to activate adhesion in a second surface of the electroadhesive device; and
responsive to receiving the second indication, applying voltage to a second pair of electrodes disposed on the second surface;
wherein the first surface and the second surface are disposed on opposing sides of an insulating material interposed between the first pair of electrodes and the second pair of electrodes, and
wherein at least a portion of the first surface or the second surface includes a compliant surface adapted to conform to surface features of an external object proximate the compliant surface when the electrostatic adhesion voltage is applied.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein at least one of the first indication or the second indication is received via a contact sensor configured to detect that at least a portion of the first surface or the second surface is in contact with an external object.
20. The method of claim 18, wherein at least one of the first indication or the second indication is received via a user input.
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §120, and is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/830,239, filed Jul. 2, 2010 and entitled “Electroadhesive Devices,” which in turn claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 and is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/830,814, filed Jul. 30, 2007, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,773,363, and entitled, “Electroadhesion,” which in turn claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 and is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/757,922, filed Jun. 4, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,551,419, and entitled, “Electroadhesion,” which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) from a) U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/803,953 filed Jun. 5, 2006, and b) U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/866,555 filed Nov. 20, 2006. Each of the foregoing applications is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety and for all purposes.
An electrostatic adhesion voltage is applied via electrodes 18 using external control electronics (see FIG. 8) in electrical communication with the electrodes 18. As shown in FIG. 2, the electrostatic adhesion voltage uses alternating positive and negative charges on adjacent electrodes 18. As result of the voltage difference between electrodes 18, and as shown in FIG. 3, an electric field 22 forms in the substrate 16 of structure 14. The electric field 22 locally polarizes a dielectric material 16 and thus causes electrostatic adhesion between the electrodes 18 (and device 10) and the induced charges on the substrate 16. The induced charges may be the result of the dielectric polarization or from weakly conductive materials and leakage currents. While not wishing to be bound by theory, the induced electrostatic forces may also use the Johnson-Rahbeck effect to provide increased forces at lower power levels.
Electro adhesive device 10 g includes two electrodes 18 that directly contact substrate 16. Electrodes 18 attach to mechanically separate pads 57. For example, each pad 57 may be included in a separate foot of a robot.
The actual electroadhesion forces and pressure will vary with design and a number of factors. In one embodiment, electroadhesive device 10 provides electroadhesive attraction pressures between about 0.7 kPa (about 0.1 psi) and about 70 kPa (about 10 psi). In a specific embodiment, electroadhesive device 10 provides pressures between about 2 kPa (about 0.3 psi) and about 20 kPa (about 3 psi). The amount of force needed for an application may then be readily achieved by varying the contacting and active surface 30 of electroadhesive device 10. In general, increasing the voltage increases electroadhesion forces. Also, decreasing the distance between the electrodes and surface increases electroadhesion forces. Further, increasing the active contact surface 30 and electroadhesive device size increases electroadhesion forces. For robotic applications described below, the electroadhesive device sizes used for each robot will depend on a number of factors such as the number of pads used, robot weight, and robust factors (e.g., a multiplier of 1.5-10 for robust operation). For example, a clamping pressure of 0.125 psi can carry a 11 b robot with two square pads of dimensions 2 inches on each side, not including a safety factor for robust operation.
Specific examples of insulation material 20 may include a compliant rubber or elastomer, acrylic elastomers, mylar, polyimide, silicones, silicone rubbers, payralin, PMDS elastomer, silicone rubber films, polyeurethane, polypropelene, acrylics, nitrile, latex, fiberglass, fiberglass cloth, glass, and ceramic. One suitable insulation material 20 is silicone RTV 118 as provided by GE Silicones of Wilton, Conn. PVC films (popularly used as cling wrap for food packaging) are also suitable for use and have a good balance of elasticity, elastic modulus, and dielectric breakdown strength. Since these materials are made to have enhanced static electricity, they have low leakage rates and high dielectric breakdown strength. Breakdown tests on PVC films have indicated a breakdown strength of 250 to 550 V/micrometer, which is well above the minimum required for electroadhesion. Another suitable material is mylar, due to its excellent breakdown strength and low inherent leakage (and power consumption).
P = 1 2 CV 2 F η ( Equation 3 )
In one embodiment, many of the robots described above and suitable for use herein are attained with slight modifications to commercially available robots, or using parts from commercially available robotic kits. For example, tracked robot 400 may include a tracked vehicle modified from a Tamiya Tracked Vehicle Chassis Kit Skill Level I model no. 3081246 as provided by Edmunds Scientific of Tonawanda, N.Y. Commercially available robotic components, most of which are already designed for lightweight robots, suitable for use may include motors, speed controllers, battery packs, solar panels, micro receivers or other transmitters, and/or camera units with transmitters. One suitable motor includes a Copal 60:1 gear motor model no. 0-copal 60 as provided by The Robot Marketplace of Bradenton, Fla. This motor already comes with an inbuilt 60:1 gear train ratio. One suitable speed controller includes an Ant 150 Dual 5A high speed controller as provided by The Robot Marketplace (part number LB-ANT150-2). One suitable battery includes an Apogee 2480 mAh LiPoly rechargeable battery as provided by RC Hobbies and More of Winsted Conn.
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