The editors of the Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks would like to express their sincere gratitude to the following reviewers for assessing manuscripts in 2013. [...]
The editors of the Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks would like to express their sincere gratitude to the following reviewers for assessing manuscripts in 2014:[...]
Peer review is an essential part in the publication process, ensuring that Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks maintains high quality standards for its published papers.[...]
Peer review is the driving force of journal development, and reviewers are gatekeepers who ensure that Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks maintains its standards for the high quality of its published papers [...]
The muscle-like movement and speed of the electrohydraulic actuator have granted it much attention in soft robotics. Our aim is to review the advancements in electrohydraulic actuators inspired by the Hydraulically Amplified Self-healing Electrostati...
Following the natural muscle antagonist actuation principle, different adaptations for “artificial muscles” are introduced in this work. Polypyrrole (PPy) films of different polymerization techniques (potentiostatic and galvanostatic) were analyzed a...
Electromagneticsoft actuator arrays (ESAAs) combine compliance with fast, controllable actuation and scalability, providing a promising foundation for the development of interconnected soft actuator arrays inspired by the structure and function of bi...
Coupled with the multichannel discharge model and plasma synthetic jet actuator (PSJA) aerodynamic model, an analytical model to predict the performance of the PSJA array is put forward. The multichannel discharge model takes these factors into consi...
A PM orbital friction vibration actuator (OFVA) which composes four linear oscillating actuators (LOA) is proposed in this paper. This paper presents the design, analysis, and experimental validation of stator configuration of a permanent magnet LOA...
Twisted polymer fibre actuators provide high torsional rotation from stimulated volume expansion, induced either by chemical fuelling, thermal stimulation, or electrochemical charging. One key limitation of these actuators is the irreversibility of t...
This paper presents an experimental analysis of a high-response piezoelectric actuator system for the modular design of hydraulic digital fluid control units. It focuses on determining static and dynamic characteristics, forming the basis for develop...
Safety and reliability of electrical actuators are essential for success of all electric and more electric aircrafts (MEA). Torque limiters improve the reliability of electromechanical actuators (EMA) by restricting the amount of force experienced by...
In this paper, a water driven soft actuator is introduced. Soft actuators driven by various external stimuli, such as air pressure, temperature, pH, electric field, and light have been reported in the past. Although they are very attractive, they oft...
The development of the electrification of aircraft has prompted aviation hydraulic systems to shift from traditional centralized valve actuators (CVAs) to electro-hydrostatic actuators (EHAs). In this paper, aiming at the demand for a quantitative co...
Compared with traditional rigid robots, soft robots have high flexibility, low stiffness, and adaptability to unstructured environments, and as such have great application potential in scenarios such as fragile object grasping and human machine inter...
Soft robots made of hydrogels are suited for underwater exploration due to their biocompatibility and compliancy. Yet, reaching high dexterity and actuation force for hydrogel-based actuators is challenging. Meanwhile, real-time proprioception is cri...
Various actuator topologies are discussed for the purpose of powering periodic processes and particularly walking robots. The Clutched Parallel Elastic Actuator (CPEA) is proposed to reduce the energy consumption of active exoskeletons. A nonlinear m...
Typical pneumatic soft micro actuators can be manufactured without using heavy driving components such as pumps and power supplies by adopting an independent battery-powered mechanism. In this study, a thermopneumatically operated soft micro bellows...
A better understanding of how actuator design supports locomotor function may help develop novel and more functional powered assistive devices or robotic legged systems. Legged robots comprise passive parts (e.g., segments, joints and connections) wh...
For the next generation of soft robotics, novel materials are needed that overcome the limitations of established active materials, such as shape memory alloys or dielectric elastomer actuators. These new actuator types should offer fast actuation an...
Employing a tri-electrode topology for electrostatic actuators can significantly reduce needed control voltages. The tri-electrode topology employs a perforated intermediate electrode between the MEMS structure and pull-down electrode, and provides a...
This paper presents a new actuation mechanism to drive comb-drive actuators. An asymmetric configuration of the finger overlap was used to generate capacitive coupling for the actuation mechanism. When the driving voltages were applied on the stators...
In this paper, a two-DOF L-shaped yoke spherical actuator based on the principle of traditional voice coil actuators is developed. By utilizing the shape characteristics of the yoke and the magnetization direction of the magnet, the magnetic flux is...
In order to improve the stiffness of flexible robots, this paper proposes a variable-stiffness elastic actuator. The actuator integrates the working principles of a pneumatic drive, wedge structure, and particle blockage. The anti-tensile stiffness o...
This study focuses on improving the power density of a spherical multi-degree-of-freedom (multi-DOF) actuator. A spherical multi-DOF actuator that can operate in three DOFs is designed. The actuator features a double air gap to reduce eddy current lo...
With the ongoing journey of automation advancements and a trend towards miniaturization, the choice of actuator plays a crucial role. Over recent years, soft actuators have demonstrated their usefulness in various applications, especially where light...
In this study, a hybrid piezo-flexural-hydraulic actuator is modeled and simulated using bond graph methodology. The hybrid actuator comprises piezoelectric stack actuator, mechanical flexural amplifier, and hydraulic piston actuator. The piezoelectr...
Hydraulic linear actuators dominate in high power applications but are much less common in low power (<100 W) systems. One reason for this is the cost: electric actuators in this power range generally exhibit lower performance but are also much le...
In this study, we introduce Fe3O4-silicone flexible composite actuators fabricated by combining silicone and iron oxide particles. The actuators exploit the flexibility of silicone and the electric conductivity of iron oxide particles. These actuator...
This article presents a numerical and experimental investigation of a novel rod-shaped linear piezoelectric actuator that consists of a square cross-section-shaped rod with eight piezo ceramic plates and a cylindrical guidance rail. The rod has a hol...
Performance of the shape memory alloy (SMA) coil spring actuator in cyclic actuation as an artificial muscle is strongly related to the mechanical design of the coil geometry. This paper proposes a practical design method for improving the frequency...
Soft wearable actuators must align with anatomical joints, conform to limb geometry, and operate at low pneumatic pressures. Yet most twisting mechanisms rely on bulky attachment interfaces and relatively high actuation pressures, limiting practicali...
Novel actuator materials are necessary to advance the field of soft robotics. However, since current solutions are limited in terms of strain, strain rate, or robustness, a new actuator type was developed. In its basic configuration, this actuator co...
Chopsticks are a popular tool used every day by 1.5 billion people to pick up pieces of food of different sizes and shapes. Given that the use of chopsticks requires sophisticated muscle control, they are difficult to use for unskilled people. In thi...
Artificial muscle actuator has been devoted to replicate the function of biological muscles, playing an important part of an emerging field at inter-section of bionic, mechanical, and material disciplines. Most of these artificial muscles possess the...
This paper presents a new type of muscle-like actuator, namely double-acting (DA) sleeve muscle actuator, which is suitable for the actuation of biologically-inspired and biomedical robotic systems, especially those serving human-assistance purposes...
The building industry accounts for half of the global resource consumption and roughly one third of global CO2 emissions. Global population growth and increasing resource scarcities require engineers and architects to build for more people with less...
Electroactive polymer (EAP) actuators are an example of a novel soft material device that can be used for several applications including artificial muscles and lenses. The field of EAPs can be broken down into a few fields; however, the field that wi...
In order to provide a simplified and low-cost solution of the terminal for a distributed actuation system, this paper proposes an electro-hydrostatic actuator (EHA) based on the linear drive principle. The proposed actuator is directly driven by a li...
The acoustic and flow aspects of the novel synthetic jet actuator (SJA) with fins inside the cavity were experimentally investigated for three types of enclosure design and two models of loudspeaker. The aim of the study is to find the parameter whic...
In this paper, we propose a laser actuated microgripper that can be activated remotely for micromanipulation applications. The gripper is based on an optothermally actuated polymeric chevron-shaped structure coated with optimized metallic layers to e...
The demand for realistic haptic feedback actuators has increased as mobile devices have increased in popularity. However, most current haptic actuators provide limited 1-DOF tactile sensations, such as vibrations. This paper presents a 2-DOF haptic i...
Either as salts or room temperature ionic liquids, fluorinated anion-based electrolytes have been a common choice for ionic electroactive polymer actuators, both linear and bending. In the present work, propylene carbonate solutions of four electroly...
In this paper, a novel two-phase linear hybrid reluctance actuator with the double-sided segmented stator, made of laminated U cores, and an interior mover with permanent magnets is proposed. The permanent magnets are disposed of in a way that increa...
Microgrippers are devices that have found applications in various fields of research and industry. They are driven by various actuation methods. In this article, an electrothermal rotary actuator recently proposed in the literature is explored to obt...
The design and analysis of a new wave actuator for boats is presented in this paper. The wave actuator is installed beneath the boat hull and converts the hydrodynamic forces generated by rising waves on the boat into translational thrusting forces....
Polymer actuators are promising, as they are widely used in various fields, such as sensors and soft robotics, for their unique properties, such as their ability to form high-quality films, sensitivity, and flexibility. In recent years, advances in s...
This paper investigates the effect of driving voltage on the attachment force of an electroadhesion actuator, as the existing literature on the saturation of the adhesive force at a higher electric field is incomplete. A new type of electroadhesion a...
In recent years, piezoelectric actuators, represented by inertial and inchworm actuators, have been widely applied because of their high accuracy and excellent responsiveness. Despite the development of various piezoelectric actuators, there remain s...
In this study, we propose a new ‘V’-shaped actuator with two panels and experimentally and theoretically investigate its actuation to find the most efficient structure. The V-shaped actuator operates like a seesaw. Specifically, when a hi...
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