Fabrication of Batteryless Soft Control Actuator Using Microfluidics and Contactless Power Supply

In this study, we fabricated a soft actuator using silicone rubber that does not require batteries for driving and sensing. Soft actuators play an important role in the fields of wearable devices and soft robotics. There is a need to make them smaller and simpler while maintaining their functionality. Most of the novel soft actuators use air pressure or thermal energy. However, pneumatic actuators require a large pump to drive them, making it difficult to reduce the size of the entire system. In addition, thermal actuators have problems with reaction speed. In this study, we succeeded in obtaining gas as a power source from a small amount of liquid by using a process that generates gas through a chemical reaction of the liquid. The liquid is pumped by a manual pump and reacts with a catalyst adsorbed on a porous material to generate gas. Since the generated gas has a larger volume than the liquid material, sufficient driving force can be obtained by using only a small amount of liquid. In addition, when the actuator is driven, it is necessary to obtain the driving status electrically as feedback. In this study, we have succeeded in driving the sensing circuit using a long-distance non-contact power supply technology using magnetic resonance, which enables sensing and wireless transmission of data without the battery. This research proposes a new method for the fabrication of soft robots, and is expected to be applied to fields such as medicine and rehabilitation.