An electrostatic linear actuator developed for use as an artificial cardiac muscle - Characteristic test of the actuator with a metallic slider

We have been developing an electrostatic linear actuator for use as an artificial cardiac muscle which consists of parallel plate capacitors and a slider made of dielectric material. In this study, a metallic slider was proposed for easy manufacturing of the slider and examined the output characteristics of the actuator with it. The maximum static force of approximately 8 mN was generated by the actuator under the driving voltage of 300 V. The driving system, which can drive the slider continuously for long distance, was developed. Length of an electrode of the stator was 1 mm. Space between two electrodes was 0.1 mm. Thickness of the slider was 0.3 mm and width was 40 mm. The liquid crystal GR-63 was used as the gap-filling medium. The slider was moved smoothly under the driving voltage of 200 V and the driving frequency of 100 Hz. The maximum speed was 25 mm/s. These value were almost equal to those obtained by the actuator with slider made of dielectric material.