Design and Implementation of an Electrostatic Adhesion-Driven Self-Sensing Actuator for Rapid, Stiffness-Modulated Pneumatic Actuators

Clutches and variable stiffness actuators based on flexible electrostatic adhesion films are widely used in the field of soft robotics. Enabling sensing capabilities in these actuators can significantly enhance their environmental interaction and control performance. However, current external sensing solutions for those actuators face several challenges, including the mechanical mismatch between sensors and the soft actuators, as well as increased system complexity due to additional sensing components. This letter proposes a self-sensing scheme for an electrostatic adhesion-driven variable stiffness clutch, utilizing a capacitance-based principle to achieve position self-sensing. In addition, the pneumatic actuator fabricated based on this actuator can achieve angular sensing, rapid response, and stiffness modulation. Finally, a two-degree of freedom pneumatic variable stiffness robotic arm integrated position sensing is fabricated, which can achieve decoupled position control through a single air source.