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HASEL Artificial Muscles www.advancedscience.com

An Easy-to-Implement Toolkit to Create Versatile

and High-Performance HASEL Actuators for Untethered
Soft Robots
Shane K. Mitchell, Xingrui Wang, Eric Acome, Trent Martin, Khoi Ly, Nicholas Kellaris,
Vidyacharan Gopaluni Venkata, and Christoph Keplinger*

those found in biological systems.[1–3]

For soft robots to have ubiquitous adoption in practical applications they Soft robots offer an intrinsic adaptability
require soft actuators that provide well-rounded actuation performance that and dexterity that is well-suited for safe
parallels natural muscle while being inexpensive and easily fabricated. This operation near humans, opening appli-
­
manuscript introduces a toolkit to rapidly prototype, manufacture, test, and cations in wearable, surgical and col-
laborative robotics.[2,4–7] Moreover, these
power various designs of hydraulically amplified self-healing electrostatic lightweight and versatile machines can
(HASEL) actuators with muscle-like performance that achieve all three basic find utility in aerospace and marine engi-
modes of actuation (expansion, contraction, and rotation). This toolkit uti- neering, industrial processing and auto-
lizes easy-to-implement methods, inexpensive fabrication tools, commodity mation, and active camouflaging.[3,8–10]
materials, and off-the-shelf high-voltage electronics thereby enabling a wide Soft actuators that mimic the universal
performance of natural muscle[11,12] are
audience to explore HASEL technology. Remarkably, the actuators created
critical components for creating the next
from this easy-to-implement toolkit achieve linear strains exceeding 100%, a generation of soft robots that achieve
specific power greater than 150 W kg−1, and ≈20% strain at frequencies above levels of functionality seen only in bio-
100 Hz. This combination of large strain, extreme speed, and high specific logical systems. Two widespread types
power yields soft actuators that jump without power-amplifying mechanisms. of soft actuators are soft fluidic actuators
Additionally, an efficient fabrication technique is introduced for modular and dielectric elastomer actuators. Soft
fluidic actuators utilize a pressurized
designs of HASEL actuators, which is used to develop soft robotic devices fluid (usually air or water) to drive shape
driven by portable electronics. Inspired by the versatility of elephant trunks, change of a deformable architecture (usu-
the above capabilities are combined to create an untethered continuum robot ally based on flexible or stretchable poly-
for grasping and manipulating delicate objects, highlighting the wide poten- mers). These devices offer diverse modes
tial of the introduced methods for soft robots with increasing sophistication. of actuation,[2,13–16] but typically require a
tethered connection to sources of pressur-
ized fluid, which limits speed, efficiency,
and portability. Dielectric elastomer actua-
1. Introduction tors (DEAs) are stretchable capacitors that employ electrostatic
activation to achieve large actuation strain, high-speed opera-
The field of soft robotics challenges the conventional defini- tion, and self-sensing capabilities enabling closed-loop con-
tion of a robot by substituting motors, gears, and metal with trol.[17–21] However, DEAs are vulnerable to failure by dielectric
more compliant and multifunctional components inspired by breakdown when scaled to large activation areas[22] and require

S. K. Mitchell, X. Wang, E. Acome, K. Ly, N. Kellaris, V. G. Venkata, X. Wang

Prof. C. Keplinger School of Physics Science and Engineering
Department of Mechanical Engineering Tongji University
University of Colorado Boulder Shanghai 200092, China
Boulder, CO 80309, USA T. Martin
E-mail: [email protected] Department of Electrical
The ORCID identification number(s) for the author(s) of this article Computer & Energy Engineering
can be found under https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.201900178. University of Colorado Boulder
© 2019 The Authors. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
Weinheim. This is an open access article under the terms of the ­Creative N. Kellaris, Prof. C. Keplinger
Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and Materials Science and Engineering Program
­reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. University of Colorado Boulder
Boulder, CO 80309, USA
DOI: 10.1002/advs.201900178

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stretchable materials for both electrodes and dielectric layers, power of 156 W kg−1. For untethered operation of the actua-
which restricts material selection and design freedom. tors, we also developed portable high-voltage driving elec-
Recent work by Acome et al.[23] and Kellaris et al.[24] intro- tronics using off-the-shelf miniature components. Further, we
duced hydraulically amplified self-healing electrostatic (HASEL) introduce a modular design of robotic devices based on stacks
actuators that blend the versatility of soft fluidic actuators with of HASELs and demonstrate an efficient fabrication process
the muscle-like performance of DEAs, while simultaneously to rapidly construct these stacks through a folding technique.
addressing key drawbacks. HASEL actuators use electric fields Finally, we utilize modular actuators to build an untethered
to locally displace liquid dielectrics enclosed in soft hydraulic soft continuum robot capable of grasping and manipulating
architectures, which mitigates losses in speed and efficiency delicate objects.
associated with transporting fluid through a system of channels
(typically seen in soft fluidic actuators). In contrast to DEAs, the
use of a liquid dielectric allows HASELs to electrically self-heal 2. Results
from dielectric breakdown to improve reliability.[23] Importantly,
the electrohydraulic driving mechanism of HASEL actuators is 2.1. Electrostatic Zipping Mechanisms in HASEL Actuators
compatible with a wide range of stretchable and also flexible
yet inextensible materials that are not available to DEAs (par- The HASEL actuators developed here incorporate electro-
ticularly for electrodes); HASELs have been built using com- static zipping mechanisms to achieve a continuous actuation
pliant ionic conductors but also flexible metallized layers as response without dramatic pull-in instabilities while reducing
electrodes.[24] While initial prototypes of HASELs[23,24] provided the operating voltages required for large deformations. Elec-
muscle-mimetic actuation characteristics, achieving such per- trostatic zipping is a well-known phenomenon in micro-
formance required very high voltages (HVs) (≈20 kV), which electromechanical systems (MEMS) and DEAs[25–27] and has
severely restricted the options for commercially available min- more recently been demonstrated in electrohydaulic origami
iature high-voltage amplifiers for portable driving electronics. actuators.[28] Figure 1 shows the generalized principle of zip-
Additionally, these initial prototypes were based on fabrica- ping-mode actuation in HASEL actuators. A thin, flexible, and
tion techniques that utilized a mold to cast elastomers or a inextensible dielectric shell encapsulates a liquid dielectric and
metal die to act as a heat-sealing press, both of which required electrodes are placed on either side of a tapered edge of the
time-­consuming machining steps to be adjusted to different shell. At V0 = 0, the actuator is at its rest state with initial thick-
­geometries and designs. ness, t0, and initial length, l0. Increasing voltage from V0 to V1,
Here, we introduce a versatile toolkit to rapidly prototype causes a gradient in electric field, with the highest field located
a wide range of designs of HASEL actuators that achieve all at the tapered edge. This field generates an electrostatic Max-
three basic modes of actuation while incorporating elec- well stress acting on the dielectric layers, governed by σ ∝ εE2,
trostatic z­ipping mechanisms to reduce operating volt- where ε is the permittivity of the dielectric layers and E is the
ages. Relying only on a programmable three-axis computer electric field.[29] The electrodes begin to “zip” together starting
numerically controlled (CNC) machine and commercially
­ at the tapered edge. This process results in an increase of the
available materials, the presented approach provides a simple, hydraulic pressure within the shell, P1, which causes part of
accessible, and ­ effective method to design and construct the soft structure to increase in thickness to t1 and decrease in
HASEL actuators with tailorable actuation characteristics; we length to l1. As voltage is further increased to V2 the electrodes
show designs that can linearly expand or contract, as well as progressively zip together until all the liquid dielectric is dis-
curl or twist. Notably, the HASELs fabricated with this easy- placed into the region of the shell that is not covered by elec-
to-implement method achieved remarkable actuation perfor- trodes. In this state, the hydraulic pressure within the shell is
mance with actuation strains up to 118%, strain rates of about at P2 > P1, and the soft structure deforms to a maximum thick-
7500% s−1, a roll-off frequency of 126 Hz, and a peak specific ness, t2, and a minimum length, l2.

Figure 1. Generalized principle of zipping-mode actuation in HASEL actuators. As voltage is increased from V0 to V2, the electrodes progressively zip
together beginning at the left tapered edge. This electrostatic zipping results in a gradual change in thickness, t, and length, l, of the soft hydraulic
structure.

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2.2. Fabrication Process to Rapidly Prototype Various Types above. Movie S1 (Supporting Information) demonstrates the
of HASEL Actuators fabrication process from start to finish.

To incorporate zipping mechanisms in various types of HASEL

actuators, we aimed to identify a material system and fabri- 2.3. Bioinspired Designs of HASEL Actuators
cation technique which would allow us to rapidly prototype
various geometries of the dielectric shell. A three-axis CNC The easy-to-implement fabrication technique presented in this
machine can be used to heat seal thin layers of thermoplas- work allowed us to easily explore new geometries of HASEL actu-
tics into pouches of various shapes and sizes.[30–32] Here, we ators. Inspired by different designs of soft pneumatic actuators
repurposed an inexpensive 3D printer into a three-axis CNC made from thin film polymers,[33,34] we prototyped HASEL actua-
heat sealing machine (Figure 2a) and used it to thermally tors that contract, curl, and twist upon activation. Figure 3 shows
bond sheets of biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP). BOPP the basic design and operating principle of these actuators. The
was chosen since it is an inexpensive thermoplastic with excel- contracting actuators feature electrodes which cover a reservoir of
lent dielectric strength (≈700 V µm−1) and tensile strength liquid dielectric that leads into a corrugated pathway, Figure 3a.
(≈300 N mm−2),[24] but many other types of thermoplastics are Upon activation the electrodes zip together forcing the liquid
compatible with this heat sealing method. A biodegradable dielectric into the corrugated pathway. Since the dielectric shell
vegetable-based transformer oil (Envirotemp FR3, Cargill) was is inextensible, the increased pressure within the corrugations
chosen as the liquid dielectric because of its favorable dielec- causes the radius of curvature of each corrugation to decrease,
tric properties, nontoxicity, and low viscosity. Similar to the resulting in an overall contraction of the soft hydraulic struc-
dielectric shell, many other types of liquid dielectrics with spe- ture. Figure S2 (Supporting Information) shows a few design
cific desired properties are also compatible with this fabrica- iterations of these contracting actuators, and the final version is
tion technique. In contrast to DEAs, HASELs do not require presented in Figure 3b. Carbon paint electrodes were painted to
stretchable electrodes; only flexible conductors are necessary,[24] the perimeter of the heat seal which constituted the reservoir of
allowing the use of many different types of conductors for liquid dielectric, thereby creating a zipping initiation site along
electrodes. In this work, we used ionically conductive poly- this perimeter. When voltage V1 was applied, the electrodes
acrylamide (PAM) hydrogels to enable transparent designs of began to zip together, resulting in a length change of the actuator,
HASELs[23,24] (Figure S1, Supporting Information), as well as ΔL1. The applied voltage was further increased to a maximum
off-the-shelf and inexpensive carbon-based conductive paint value of V2, which caused a maximum length change of ΔL2.
that was easily applied with a paint brush. Figure 2 illustrates The contracting actuators described above can be modified to
the fabrication process using the specific materials described curl by adding a strain limiting layer to one side of the actuator,

Figure 2. Fabrication process to rapidly prototype various types of HASEL actuators. a) An illustration of the three-axis CNC heat sealing machine
used to bond thermoplastics for the dielectric shell. b) Two exemplary patterns of heat seals used in HASEL actuators. Small gaps in the seal
were incorporated to c) fill the shell with liquid dielectric using a needle and syringe. d) Once the shell was filled with liquid dielectric, the fill ports were
sealed with a soldering iron. e) The excess BOPP was cut away and electrodes were applied to either side of the actuator.

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Figure 3. Rapid prototyping of HASELs for bioinspired designs that contract, curl, and twist. a) A schematic of a contracting HASEL actuator. b) A pro-
totype of a contracting actuator. The zipping mechanism allowed for variable contraction upon application of voltage. c) A strain limiting layer applied
to one side of the contracting actuator forces the device to curl upon application of voltage. d) A curling actuator was used to mimic the high-speed
strike of a scorpion tail. e) The corrugated shape of the heat seal was designed as a Fibonacci spiral. As voltage was increased from V0 to V2, the spiral
curled upward while simultaneously generating a twisting motion.

Figure 3c. This layer constrains one side of the shell, resulting 1.26 m s−1, which is nearly identical to the maximum velocity
in a preferential deformation of the unconstrained side. This of a tail strike from the scorpion species Leiurus quinques-
deformation leads to a differential contraction and overall triatus.[36] Additionally, the curling actuator achieved a max-
bending movement, similar to pneumatic bending actuators.[35] imum angular velocity of 1987° s−1 and a blocked tip force of
The rapid actuation of these curling HASELs resembled the 550 mN (Figure S3, Supporting Information). We also demon-
high-speed strike of a scorpion tail, Figure 3d and Movie S2 strated independent control of three curling HASEL actuators
(Supporting Information). Figure S3 (Supporting Information) using a three-channel HV power supply, Movie S2 (Supporting
shows that the peak velocity of the tip of the curling actuator is Information).

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Furthermore, the shape of the corrugated pathway can be of only 20% at 10 kV, whereas a stack of three quadrant donuts
modified for added functionality. We prototyped the heat seal achieved 72% at 10 kV, Figure S5b (Supporting Information).
of the corrugated pathway in the shape of a Fibonacci spiral, The actuation characteristics of a stack of three quadrant
and attached a strain limiting layer to one side of the actuator, donut HASELs are shown in Figure 4c–h, where Figure 4e,f
Figure 3e. Upon activation, the spiral shape curled upward provide additional information on the performance of single
while simultaneously generating a torsional deformation, quadrant donut actuators. Under a 1 N load, the stack of actua-
Movie S3 (Supporting Information), which resembles the con- tors achieved a linear strain of 15% at 4 kV and a maximum
torting motion of tendrils found in certain plant species. strain of 118% at 12 kV, Figure 4c. The blocked force for this
stack of actuators was above 60 N and was ultimately limited by
the strength of the heat seals, Figure 4d. The large zipping initi-
2.4. Improving the Performance of Donut HASEL Actuators ation site afforded by the segmented shell promoted high-speed
through Rapid Prototyping actuation, and Figure 4e shows the stack achieved a strain rate
of 4800% s−1 at 12 kV under a 1 N load, and nearly 300% s−1
Donut HASEL actuators presented by Acome et al.[23] showed under a 20 N load. Furthermore, the stack of three actuators
promise as high speed and efficient linear actuators with tai- demonstrated a peak specific power of 121 W kg−1 (Figure 4f
lorable stress-strain curves through electrohydraulic coupling. and Figure S6, Supporting Information). Using the specific test
However, these actuators required voltages above 15 kV to setup shown in Figure 4g, which consisted of three springs and
achieve strains of about 40% under loads of ≈1 N. These volt- a rigid acrylic platform to provide a restoring force, we meas-
ages were necessary to produce high electric fields across the ured a flat frequency response at 25% strain until roll-off at
relatively thick (≈1 mm) silicone elastomers used as the dielec- 126 Hz (Figure 4g,h). The small peak seen in the frequency
tric shell. response (≈30 Hz) (Figure 4g) was attributed to a resonance
Using the CNC heat sealing machine and thin-film BOPP in the test setup. Using a test setup with a different restoring
(18 µm thick) as the dielectric shell, we prototyped donut force would affect these results; a lower restoring force
HASEL actuators which featured electrostatic zipping mecha- would allow the actuators to achieve a larger stroke and gen-
nisms. To better visualize the zipping mechanisms, transparent erate more inertia, and therefore the roll-off frequency would
ionic conductors were used for electrodes; Figure 4a shows a decrease. Conversely, if a larger restoring force was used, the
basic design for a zipping donut actuator wherein electrodes actuators would achieve less strain, but would roll-off at higher
are placed concentric to a small circular heat seal that was also frequencies.
concentric with the outer circumference of the actuator. The The full-cycle electromechanical efficiency of the actua-
central heat seal resembled a dimple and acted as a zipping tors was also measured. The experimental setup is shown in
initiation site; when voltage was applied, the electrodes began Figure S7 (Supporting Information) and was similar to the
to zip radially outward from the central dimple of the actuator. technique used by Acome et al.[23] The results are summarized
As the electrodes zipped together, liquid dielectric was forced in Figure S8 (Supporting Information), which show the effi-
away from the central dimple to the outer regions of the shell, ciency of the actuators as a function of the number of actua-
causing the actuator to transition from a disc shape to a toroidal tors within a stack. We observed that a single quadrant donut
or donut shape. A schematic of a dimpled donut HASEL actu- HASEL achieves a full-cycle efficiency of 19.4%, a stack of three
ator is shown in Figure S4 (Supporting Information). quadrant donut HASELs was 15.6% efficient, and a stack of
Dimpled donut HASELs showed a continuous response to 11 actuators yielded an efficiency of 13.6%. Additional details
input voltage and began to actuate at voltages as low as 2 kV. on experimental methods and calculations for performance
However, it was observed that when a few of these actuators metrics can be found in the Experimental Section and the Sup-
were stacked on top of each other and placed under a mechan- porting Information.
ical load, the liquid dielectric in adjacent actuators was distrib-
uted unevenly in the outer regions of the shells, inhibiting each
actuator in the stack from taking a toroidal shape. This uneven 2.5. Modular Units of Quadrant Donut HASELs
distribution limited the linear expansion of the stack to values
lower than expected from extrapolation of the strain achieved We used quadrant donut HASELs to create modular units of
by a single actuator. stacked actuators (Figure 5) that achieve large actuation strokes.
Figure 4b shows a donut HASEL actuator with a dielectric Each unit consisted of 11 quadrant donut HASELs and a thin
shell that was segmented into quadrants, each filled with the elastomeric “skin” made from Ecoflex 00–10 wrapped around
same volume of liquid dielectric. This segmentation resulted in the stack to provide an elastic restoring force. The large actua-
a more homogenous distribution of the liquid dielectric during tion strokes are possible without a dramatic change in the
actuation under load, while also providing a larger zipping ini- diameter of the device due to the fact that the overall volume
tiation site compared to the dimpled donut actuators. Figure S5 occupied by the stack increases during actuation (the electrodes
(Supporting Information) compares dimpled donuts to quad- of adjacent actuators move apart from each other thereby cre-
rant donut HASELs under a 500 g load. Figure S5a (Supporting ating voids between the electrodes). Figure S9 (Supporting
Information) shows that one dimpled donut achieved a larger Information) details the construction process for these modular
actuation strain (11% at 4 kV and 56% at 10 kV) as compared to units. Movie S4 (Supporting Information) demonstrates actua-
one quadrant donut (2% at 4 kV and 41% at 10 kV). However, tion of a modular unit when powered by a Trek Model 50/12
a stack of three dimpled donuts generated an actuation strain high-voltage amplifier. The voltage was applied using custom

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Figure 4. Design and characterization of stackable quadrant donut HASELs for large strain, high-power, and high-speed linear actuation. a) The first
design iteration used a central heat seal (“dimple”) in a donut HASEL actuator to initiate zipping-mode actuation from this central site. As voltage was
gradually increased from V0 = 0 kV to V1 = 2 kV to V2 = 5 kV, the electrodes progressively zipped together without pull-in instabilities. b) To ensure a
more homogeneous distribution of liquid dielectric during actuation, the shell of a donut HASEL actuator was divided into four equal quadrants using
an “X”-shaped heat seal. This “X” acts as the zipping initiation site, and the electrodes progressively zip together as voltage is increased from V0 to V2.
c–h) Performance metrics for a stack of three quadrant donut HASELs; panels (e) and (f) additionally show metrics for a single quadrant donut HASEL
actuator. g,h) Bode plot for the stack of three actuators, where 0 dB corresponds to 25% strain. The actuators achieved muscle-like strains (≈20%)
beyond 100 Hz. A spring platform was used to provide a restoring force during characterization of frequency response.

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Figure 5. Demonstration of performance of stacked quadrant donut HASELs. a) An aerial view of a modular unit of actuators, defined as a stack of
11 quadrant donut HASELs. b) These modular units demonstrate a smooth actuation response to input voltage, with strains of 60% at 5 kV and 82%
at 8 kV. c) The stacked actuators maintain large strains (>40%) at high frequencies (15 Hz). d) High specific power enables actuators that jump without
additional power-amplifying mechanisms.

waveforms shown in Figure S10 (Supporting Information) actuator and the elastomeric wrap provides a restoring force to
which reversed the polarity of the applied voltage after each the module, enabling the unit to effectively operate in various
actuation cycle. Reversing polarity mitigated charge reten- orientations regardless of the effects of gravity, as exemplified
tion within the actuator during continued cycling. Without by Movie S4 (Supporting Information). Additionally, the strain
reversing polarity, it was observed that charge retention would as a function of voltage for a modular unit of quadrant donut
prevent the actuator from fully returning to its initial position. HASELs was measured at three different orientations (upright,
Figure 5a shows an aerial view of a modular unit actuating at sideways, and upside-down). Figure S11 (Supporting Informa-
8 kV, while Figure 5b shows a side view of the unit at three tion) shows that the strain of one modular unit is largely unaf-
different voltages. Additionally, large actuation strains (≈40%) fected by the orientation of the actuator (more details in the
were observed at driving frequencies of 15 Hz, Figure 5c. Supporting Information).
Moreover, the segmented shell of each actuator in the modular The low weight of the modular units (≈26 g) combined with
unit confines the liquid dielectric to discrete regions of each their high-speed actuation characteristics and large strokes

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allowed them to jump without relying on external power ampli- was used to generate a proportional output voltage of 0–10 kV
fying mechanisms (Figure 5d and Movie S5, Supporting Infor- from a 0–5 V input. Optocouplers were used as high-speed,
mation). When a 7.8 kV, 3.9 Hz driving signal was applied, HV switches to charge and discharge the actuators, allowing a
the stack jumped off the ground repeatedly with its center of maximum charging and discharging current of 0.3 mA. There-
gravity reaching a maximum height of ≈5 cm. The elastomeric fore, the maximum continuous power draw by the actuators was
skin was removed from the modular unit in this case as it restricted to 3 W. The optocouplers were oriented in an H-bridge
adhered to surfaces preventing the actuator from fully lifting configuration to reverse the polarity of the voltage applied to the
off the ground. actuators. A 3.7 V, 500 mAh lithium polymer battery with a 5 V
power booster were used to power the circuit, while a microcon-
troller was used to switch the optocouplers and modulate the
2.6. Portable High-Voltage Electronics for Untethered voltage and frequency input to the actuator. This proof-of-con-
Operation of HASEL Devices cept electronics package fit in the palm of a hand and weighed
≈100 g. Figure 6b and Movie S6 (Supporting Information) show
DEAs driven by miniature high-voltage electronics have been that a modular unit easily lifted its entire driving electronics and
shown to effectively power untethered soft robots.[37–40] Similar battery, operating completely untethered from any additional
to DEAs, the electrostatic driving mechanism and high specific energy source. More details on powering the actuators with this
power of HASEL actuators enables the development of com- HV power supply can be found in the Supporting Information.
pact and portable HV electronics for untethered operation of
HASEL-driven soft robots. Figure 6a and Movie S6 (Supporting
Information) show a modular unit of HASEL actuators powered 2.7. An Untethered Continuum Robot Based on Modular
by a portable HV electronics package. This circuit (Figure S12, Units of HASEL Actuators
Supporting Information) was based on the open source power
supply developed by PetaPicoVoltron[41] which has been utilized Moving toward untethered soft robots with increasing com-
to drive DEAs for applications in soft robotic grippers and active plexity, we developed a three-channel HV power supply for
substrates.[42,43] The circuit developed here was modified for independent control of multiple modular units of HASEL
higher voltage and power output; a 5 W h ­ igh-voltage amplifier actuators, Figure 7 and Figure S13a (Supporting Information).

Figure 6. Compact high-voltage electronics for untethered operation of HASEL actuators. a) A proof-of-concept power supply was constructed using
only off-the-shelf components and was shown to operate a modular unit of actuators. b) The modular unit was operated at 8 kV and could easily lift
its entire power supply including the battery.

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Figure 7. Untethered continuum robot based on modular units of HASEL actuators. a) Three modular units of HASEL actuators were oriented in a
triad configuration. Each unit was connected to one channel of the custom power supply and activated with a voltage ranging from 0 to 8 kV. b) The
continuum robot consisted of three columns each comprised of four modular units electrically connected in parallel. Each column was independently
controlled by a joystick. c) Independent control of each column caused the robot to bend in various directions following the movement of the joystick,
while activating all columns simultaneously caused the robot to linearly expand. d) An interactive game was created by placing an acrylic maze on top
of three modular units of HASELs. A player navigated a marble through the maze using the joystick. e) Three columns each consisting of two modular
units demonstrated 70% linear strain under no load and 40% under 1 kg.

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Three of the HV power supplies shown in Figure 6 shared a a soft gripper based on curling HASEL actuators for the end
common ground and interfaced with a microcontroller which effector, Figure S16 (Supporting Information). A four-channel
mapped analog input signals from a modified video game con- power supply based on the electronics described in Figure 6
troller to the input of each HV amplifier, Figure S13b (Sup- and Figure 7 was used to control the three-dimensional motion
porting Information). Therefore, by manipulating the position of the end effector as well as opening and closing of the gripper,
of the joystick on the controller, each power supply was acti- Figure 8a. The HV transmission lines for the gripper were
vated independently. The output of each channel was connected routed through the gap in the middle of the three columns, and
to a modular unit of HASELs, and the three units were oriented the gripper was activated via a push button embedded in the
in a triad configuration as seen in Figure 7a. The modular units joystick controller. This soft robot, named Terry the trunk, was
could be stacked on top of each other and connected in par- adept at grasping and repositioning objects handed to it by a
allel to further scale up the actuation stroke, Figure S14 (Sup- person, Figure 8b,c and Movie S10 (Supporting Information).
porting Information). We used three columns each consisting
of four modular units to construct an untethered continuum
robot capable of three-dimensional mobility, Figure 7b. Each 2.9. Folding HASEL Actuators to Create Modular
layer of modular units was separated by a thin acrylic spacer Units of Actuators
to provide mechanical stability to the system, and each spacer
was anchored to the plate above and below it with either elastic The modular units of actuators shown thus far offer high-per-
bands made from Ecoflex 00–30 or fishing line which was used formance actuation characteristics, but rapidly fabricating many
to limit the strain of each unit to 100%, Figure S15 (Supporting of these devices is challenging using the techniques presented
Information). These anchors prevented the robot from toppling in Figure S9 (Supporting Information). In this section, we
over as it bent in various directions. This soft robot could bend introduce an alternative method that allows the rapid produc-
following the movement of the joystick or linearly expand by tion of modular units of stacked HASEL actuators through use
activating all modular units simultaneously via the press of a of a folding design. This method offers a few key characteristics
button embedded in the controller, Figure 7c and Movie S7 that make it ideal for rapidly manufacturing large quantities of
(Supporting Information). Movie S7 (Supporting Information) modular units, but at the same time the devices constructed
also shows that three columns each consisting of seven mod- from this method differ from the modular units shown in
ular units could be used with the three-channel power supply to Figure 5 in terms of electrical properties and robustness. These
achieve bending angles of nearly 90°. differences will be discussed in detail at the end of this section.
With a maximum power output of 3 W from each channel, Figure 9 details a method to rapidly manufacture modular
actuation speed was limited when scaling up the number of units of HASEL actuators through a folding technique. In this
modular units in each column as the overall value of the capaci- method, the dielectric shell for each actuator in the unit is
tive load increased with more modular units. If high speed heat sealed in a single step, and then the electrodes for each
operation of stacks consisting of many modular units is desired, actuator are screen-printed onto the dielectric shell as one con-
a high-voltage amplifier with a higher power output would yield tinuous strip (Figure S17, Supporting Information). Next, all
a proportional increase in the response speed of the device. To the ­actuators in the modular unit are filled with liquid dielectric
demonstrate high-speed operation of HASEL actuators using simultaneously through one fill port, and the liquid is evenly
the portable three-channel power supply developed here, we distributed throughout all the actuators by placing a 2 kg rigid
reduced the total capacitive load of each channel to only one plate on top of the strip of actuators. Then, the rigid plate is
modular unit and used the resulting device to precisely con- removed and the filling channels between actuators are heat
trol the position of a marble moving through an acrylic maze, sealed using a soldering iron. Finally, stacking the actuators
Figure 7d and Movie S8 (Supporting Information). Addition- into a modular unit is accomplished by folding the actuators in
ally, three columns each consisting of two modular units were a zigzag pattern; related folding techniques have been success-
shown to achieve linear strains of 70% under no load and were fully used in the field of DEAs.[48] The mechanical connections
strong enough to achieve 40% strain under a 1 kg weight, between adjacent actuators are provided by double-sided tape
Figure 7e and Movie S9 (Supporting Information). (3M, 924 Transfer Tape). The number of actuators in a single
stack is limited by the size of the heat-sealing equipment and
screen for depositing the electrodes. This method increases
2.8. Toward an Untethered Soft Robot for Grasping the production rate of one modular unit from ≈3 h (using the
and ­Manipulation: Terry the Trunk technique described in Figure S9, Supporting Information) to
≈30 min.
The designs of soft robots are often inspired by the rich func- A force-strain plot for the folded modular unit seen in
tionality and high adaptability of continuum actuators found in Figure 9 is displayed in Figure S18a (Supporting Information)
nature (octopus arms, elephant trunks, tentacles and tongues, and shows that the actuator achieves a maximum strain of
etc.).[44–47] Aiming to create an untethered, electrically powered 110% and a maximum force of 33 N with an applied voltage of
soft robot based on HASEL actuators for grasping and manip- 8 kV. Figure S18b (Supporting Information) shows the full-cycle
ulation, we combined several capabilities described in the electromechanical efficiency of the foldable HASEL actuators
previous sections, Figure 8. We used three columns each con- as a function of the number of actuators within the stack. One
sisting of five modular units of HASELs as a continuum actu- foldable HASEL demonstrates an efficiency of 31.2%, whereas
ator, while our fabrication technique allowed us to prototype a stack of eight actuators achieves 15.4%. Importantly, this

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Figure 8. Toward an untethered soft robot for grasping and manipulation: Terry the trunk. a) Terry bent in one direction and flexed its end effector.
b,c) Terry grasped and manipulated a variety of delicate objects such as a plastic cup, a flower, a bag of chips, and a balloon.

folding approach (and therefore a modular unit) is not ­limited c­haracteristics are achieved using only commodity materials
to the design seen in Figure 9 and can be applied to quadrant (≈$0.10 in materials per actuator). However, electrical self-
donut HASELs or alternative geometries such as Peano-HASEL healing is still unreliable using the discussed material system,
actuators.[24] as dielectric breakdown events can melt small holes in the thin
The modular units shown in Figures 5 and 9 exhibit key dif- thermoplastic sheets of BOPP allowing the liquid dielectric
ferences, besides their underlying fabrication method. First, to leak from the actuator.[24] Nevertheless, the largest e­lectric
the electrodes of adjacent actuators of the modular units in field used to achieve the reported actuation performance is
Figure 5 are connected in parallel, whereas the electrodes of ≈333 V µm−1, which is well below the maximum dielectric
the actuators in the modular units in Figure 9 are connected strength of BOPP (≈700 V µm−1) allowing for reliable actuation
in series. Overall, electrodes connected in series have higher without dielectric breakdown.
resistance than the same electrodes connected in parallel, and As a new actuator technology, HASELs require fundamental
therefore, influence the electrical response speed (RC time) of studies to guide material selection,[49] elucidate scaling laws,
the modular unit. Moreover, when modular units of actuators and determine methods to circumvent charge retention in the
are created using the folding method, if one actuator in the actuator. Currently, charge retention within the BOPP-based
module breaks, the entire module must be replaced. On the HASEL actuators necessitates reversing the polarity of voltage
other hand, if one actuator breaks in the modular units shown during subsequent actuation cycles which increases the com-
in Figure 5, the broken actuator can be removed and replaced plexity and size of the driving electronics.
to restore functionality of the modular unit. Although the voltage used for actuation in this work is sub-
stantially lower than reported values by Acome et al.,[23] it still
is in the kilovolts range; thus, electrical safety needs to be con-
3. Conclusion sidered when operating HASELs in close proximity to humans.
However, it is important to note that the actuators and high-
The high-performance actuators created from the easy- voltage power supply developed here do not present a safety
to-implement fabrication technique presented in this work concern, because the maximum capacitance of the actuators
offer tunable actuation modes; they can be designed to expand, and the charging/discharging currents are low (on the order
contract, rotate, or any combination of the three. These of 10 nF and < 1 mA, respectively), while the equivalent series

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Figure 9. Fabrication method to rapidly produce modular units of foldable HASEL actuators. a) A heat-seal pattern defined multiple individual HASEL
actuators on a single strip of BOPP films. b) Carbon ink electrodes were screen-printed onto the heat-sealed films. The same pattern was applied to
the bottom side of the films (not shown here). c) Liquid dielectric was inserted into all individual actuators simultaneously through the fill port and
any air bubbles were expelled through the outlet port. d) Once the liquid dielectric was evenly distributed among the individual actuators, the filling
channels between actuators were sealed with a soldering iron. e) The completed strip of actuators was folded into a stack. f) A folded stack of eight
HASEL actuators is shown to expand under an applied voltage of 8 kV reaching a strain of 110%. g) This fabrication method made it possible to rapidly
produce many modular units of HASEL actuators.

resistance of the electrodes is high (>1 kΩ).[50] To further reduce increase as the number of actuators within the stack increases,
the risk of accidental electrostatic discharge, the operating volt- which ultimately inhibits the amount of mechanical work that
ages of HASEL actuators can be decreased by using thinner is performed by the device. More effective methods of stacking
solid and liquid dielectric layers and by increasing the electrical actuators can be implemented to maintain efficient operation
permittivity of these layers. by incorporating more robust mechanical connections between
Untethered operation of soft robots is critical for applications actuators using permanent adhesives or a more sophisticated
like wearable and field robotics[51] where these machines must heat-sealing technique that directly bonds adjacent actuators
operate without being constrained by their power sources.[52] within the stack. Additionally, if the modular units require
While the power supply developed in this work was shown to a restoring force greater than that of the elastomeric wrap or
effectively drive untethered modular units of HASEL actuators the load that the muscles are pushing on, one could employ
through a user input, a closed-loop controller is necessary for techniques utilized by the mammalian musculoskeletal system.
autonomous operation of these devices. This controller could HASEL actuators could be grouped as antagonistic muscle
rely on the self-sensing mechanism inherent to HASEL actua- pairs and utilize a more advanced polymeric wrap that acts as
tors.[23,24,53] Additionally, the use of high-voltage power supplies, a connective and structural component like fascia. While the
switches, and soft logic developed for DEAs[54–56] could enable mammalian musculoskeletal system is designed for actuators
further miniaturization of the driving electronics for integrated that contract, this artificial system would be designed for actua-
actuation, sensing, and control of arrays of modular HASELs. tors that expand.
The modular units of HASEL actuators developed in this The introduced fabrication technique is effective for first
work provide a framework to create soft robots with scalable prototyping different designs of HASEL actuators and then
features and tunable actuation characteristics. However, Fig- rapidly manufacturing modular units of actuators once
ures S8b and S17c (Supporting Information) suggest that a design is considered suitable for a desired application.
mechanical losses between adjacent actuators within the stack The easy-to-implement toolkit provides a wide audience of

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r­ oboticists, researchers from neighboring fields, and even hob- as the monomer, N,N-methylenebisacrylamide (MBAA; Sigma, 146072)
byists with simple yet effective methods to explore, create, and solution as the cross-linker, ammonium persulfate (AP; Sigma, 248614)
power HASEL actuators with muscle-like performance. as the ultraviolet (UV) light sensitive photo-initiator, and N,N,N′,
N′-tetramethylethylenediamine (TEMED; Sigma, T9281) as the
crosslinking accelerator. For a 10 mL solution of PAAm hydrogel, the
following amounts were used: 9 mL of 8 mol L−1 LiCl, 1 mL of 0.933 g L−1
4. Experimental Section MBAA, 1.56 g of AAm, 0.03 g of AP, and 1–2 drops of TEMED. These
hydrogels were cast into a 14 cm × 26 cm sheet on a film of BOPP
Heat Sealing the Dielectric Shell: The dielectric shell of the HASEL which acted as a substrate making it easier to handle the gels, Figure S1
actuators was made from biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) (Supporting Information). The BOPP sheet was placed (hydrophilic
(70 gauge, 5020 Polypropylene, Multi·Plastics) film with a thickness of side up) onto a piece of glass (Figure S1a, Supporting Information).
18 µm. From the manufacturer, both sides of the film are integrated with A 180 µm spacer made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET; School
a heat-sealable copolymer layer and one side of the film is corona-treated Smart, 631812) was used to control the thickness of the gels. The
for ink adhesion which makes this side hydrophilic. All dielectric shells hydrogel solution was poured onto the BOPP (Figure S1b, Supporting
were heat sealed using the fabrication process illustrated in Figure 2 and Information) and another sheet of glass was placed on top of the
shown in Movie S1 (Supporting Information). A commercially available spacer. Hydrogels were cured under a 365 nm UV light (Analytik Jena,
3D printer (RepRap3D, MagicD A2) was repurposed as a CNC heat XX-40) for 1 h (Figure S1c, Supporting Information). Once cured, a
sealing device. The designs for the dielectric shell were initially drawn laser cutter (Legend 36 EXT, Epilog) was used to cut electrodes from the
using computer-aided design (CAD) software (SolidWorks 2017–2018), sheet of BOPP-backed hydrogels (Figure S1d, Supporting Information).
exported as a 2D drawing in a .dxf file, and then converted to G-code Electrodes were placed onto the dielectric shell of the actuators with
using an open source software called “dxf2gcode.” The G-code defined hydrogel facing the shell. The inherent tackiness of the hydrogels allowed
the path of the extruder tip of the CNC machine, which was heated to the gels to stick to the dielectric shell without additional adhesives.
195 °C and moved at a constant speed of 800 mm min−1. A 0.32 cm Additionally, we use an off-the-shelf, carbon-based conductive paint
thick neoprene rubber sheet and Kapton film was placed on the base of (16056 DAG-T-502 Carbon Paint, Ted Pella, Inc.) as electrodes for
the heat sealing device to help evenly distributed the force of the heat actuators. Strips of copper tape were applied to opposite sides of the
sealing tip. Two sheets of BOPP were sandwiched between two sheets dielectric shell to act as electrical connections, and then the paint was
of Kapton (TapeCase 1 mil, Dupont) and placed on the base plate of brushed onto the actuator shell in the desired shape of the electrode. No
the CNC heat sealing machine (Figure 2a). Kapton was used to evenly modifications were made to this paint before application. A thin line of
distribute the heat during the sealing process and to avoid melting paint was applied to connect the electrode to the copper tape (Movie S1,
through the BOPP. A thin film of Envirotemp FR3 was applied to the top Supporting Information).
surface of the Kapton to lubricate the extruder tip as it traveled across the For screen printed electrodes, a polyester screen with a mesh of
heat sealing platform. Importantly, no FR3 was placed between the two 200 threads/cm (Gold-Up USA) was used. A blank screen was coated
layers of BOPP during the heat sealing process, as this compromised on both sides with a thin layer of UV-curable emulsion (Proclaim
the strength of the seal. Figure 2b shows two different designs for the Dual Cure, Ulano). The emulsion dried on the screen in a light-proof
shell (a quadrant donut and a contracting HASEL) after they have been cabinet for a minimum of 4 h. A negative of the electrode pattern was
heat sealed. All heat seal designs included a small opening (2 mm wide) printed in black ink onto a transparency film. Once the emulsion dried,
to act as a fill port. the negative of the electrode pattern was placed on the screen and the
The shape of the dielectric shell for donut HASELs was a circle with screen was exposed to 365 nm UV light (Analytik Jena, XX-40) for 10 min
50 mm diameter. A 2 mm gap in the perimeter of the circle served as a at a distance of 100 mm. The portion of screen covered by the electrode
fill port for the dielectric liquid. For dimpled donut HASELs, the central pattern remained uncured and was washed out of the screen with tap
heat seal was 1 mm in diameter and concentric with the 50 mm outer water. The screen was mounted to a flat surface with a pair of hinges
circle. For quadrant donut HASEL shells, the 50 mm circular heat seal to maintain position and a layer of electrodes was screen-printed onto
was separated into four equal-sized pouches each with their own fill port. a glass plate to act as a guide. Sheets of heat sealed BOPP were placed
The dielectric shell of curling and twisting HASEL actuators included onto the glass plate and the screen was flooded with conductive carbon
a reservoir, shaped like a quarter of a circle, that was connected to a ink (CI-2051, Engineered Materials Systems, Inc), as shown in Figure S17a
corrugated-shaped heat seal. The contracting and curling HASELs were (Supporting Information). An 85a durometer squeegee (Gold-Up USA)
designed as seen in Figure 3b and Figure S2 (Supporting Information). was pulled across the screen with constant pressure and speed to
The corrugated heat seal for twisting HASELs was designed as a deposit the ink through the screen and onto the BOPP (Figure S17b,
Fibonacci spiral (Figure 3e). The dielectric shell for each of the actuators Supporting Information). The screen used was 304.8 mm × 609.6 mm
in the stack of folded actuators (Figure 9) is 30 mm × 30 mm. which was large enough to accommodate two stacks of actuators, each
Filling the Shell with Liquid Dielectric: A biodegradable vegetable- consisting of eight individual actuators with 15 mm × 30 mm electrodes
based transformer oil (Envirotemp FR3, Cargill) was used as the liquid (Figure S17c,d, Supporting Information).
dielectric. A syringe with a needle was used to fill the chamber(s) of the The electrodes for all donut HASEL actuators were 30 mm in diameter
heat sealed dielectric shell with the liquid dielectric through this port, and concentric to the outer 50 mm circular heat seal. The electrodes for
Figure 2c. Air bubbles from the filling process were carefully removed. the contracting, curling, and twisting HASELs were the same shape and
Then, a Kapton sheet was placed on top of the filled shell, and the fill size as the reservoir of liquid dielectric. The strain limiting layer used for
port was sealed with a soldering iron heated to 195 °C, Figure 2d. Once the curling and twisting actuators was a 115 µm thick laminating film
sealed, the excess BOPP was cut away with scissors. (Heavy Weight Laminating Film, Grafix) that had an adhesive backing
Dimpled donut HASELs were filled with 2 mL of FR3, while each of on one side. This laminating film was cut in the shape of the corrugated
the four pouches of the quadrant donut HASELs was filled with 0.5 mL pathway and placed on one side of the actuator with the adhesive side in
of FR3. The contracting, curling, and twisting HASELs were each filled contact with the shell.
with 5 mL of Envirotemp FR3. Each actuator in the stack of folded Test Methods: The dynamic response and equilibrium displacement
actuators (Figure 9) was filled with 0.76 mL of Envirotemp FR3. of all actuators were recorded either directly with a laser displacement
Electrodes for Actuators: Polyacrylamide (PAAm) hydrogels swollen sensor (Model LK-H057, Keyence) (Figure 4d–f and Figure S6,
with lithium chloride (LiCl) solution were used and fabricated following Supporting Information), or with a high-speed camera (Model Phantom
the procedures developed by Bai et al.[57] The hydrogel consists of v710, Vision Research) and processed by Tracker video analysis and
aqueous solution of lithium chloride (LiCl; The Science Company, modeling software (version 4.96) (Figure 4c,g–h and Figure S5,
NC-48518M) as the ionic conductor, Acrylamide (AAm; Sigma, A88887) Supporting Information). All actuators for performance tests were

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powered by a Trek high-voltage power amplifier (Model 50/12). An NI Keywords

DAQ (Model USB6212) was used to control the Trek based on custom
LabVIEW programs (version 15.0.1f2), which were used to generate the artificial muscles, bioinspired robots, electroactive polymers, HASEL
waveforms seen in Figure S10 (Supporting Information) and trigger the actuators, soft robotics
high-speed camera for frequency experiments. A stainless-steel rod,
constrained by a linear ball bearing, was used to apply vertical loads to Received: January 22, 2019
the donut HASEL actuators (Figure S6, Supporting Information). For Revised: May 7, 2019
the frequency response measurements an acrylic frame with a spring- Published online: June 11, 2019
loaded acrylic plate was used to provide a restoring force to the top of
the actuators (Figure 4g). Orientation tests of the more details on the
calculations of performance metrics can be found in the Supporting
Information.
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