Design, Measurement Experiments and Application of a Macroscopic Shape Memory Alloy Actuator System

Prestrainend shape memory alloys (SMA) change their length when heated above their transformation temperature. Based on this property various micro-technical actuators have been developed in the past. This paper presents the design of novel macroscopic SMA actuators scalable in force and length. Our design approach allows arranging the point of actuation in any direction and ensures a short cool down time to guarantee a high frequency of contraction/stress cycles. The use of the new actuator also necessitates a novel control approach. A model to describe the actuators behavior has been developed and experimentally validated. It offers the possibility of using the resistance of the actuator as a linear position encoder and provides a basis for the control approach of the actuator. The application to a new bipedal walking robot demonstrates one envisioned future use of the actuators. One advantage over electric motors lies in the large variety of userdefined points of actuation of the scalable actuators on a mechanical structure. This allows generating joint movements without the common restrictions holding for electric motors on the possible point of actuation.