Monodirectional positioning using dielectric elastomers

The rationales for the use of microsystems are numerous, including the reduction of consumables, a faster response time, the enhanced portability, the higher resolution, and the higher efficiency; moreover their application sectors are numerous. Nevertheless microproducts have still great difficulty in penetrating the market, mainly due to the limits of the fabrication processes. The hybrid approach is suitable for the fabrication of three dimensional microscopic structures but often requires manual contributions, which are time consuming and expensive. In order to overcome these issues, new materials and new techniques for the manipulation of microcomponents, based on innovative principles, have been conceived and have to be further developed. In this paper polymeric smart materials, namely electroactive polymers, have been theoretically and experimentally investigated towards their implementation in the actuation and sensing of positioning and handling devices. The feasibility of a monodirectional positioner has been studied.