Micromachines (Aug 2021)

Miniature Ultralight Deformable Squama Mechanics and Skin Based on Piezoelectric Actuation

  • Xiang Lu,
  • Xiang Xi,
  • Kun Lu,
  • Chengxiang Wang,
  • Xiang Chen,
  • Yulie Wu,
  • Xuezhong Wu,
  • Dingbang Xiao

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/mi12080969
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 8
p. 969

Abstract

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A miniature deformable squama mechanics based on piezoelectric actuation inspired by the deformable squama is proposed in this paper. The overall size of the mechanics is 16 mm × 6 mm × 6 mm, the weight is only 140 mg, the deflection angle range of the mechanical deformation is −15°~45°, and the mechanical deformation is controllable. The small-batch array processing of the miniature deformable squama mechanics, based on the stereoscopic process, laid the technological foundation for applying the deformed squama array arrangement. We also designed and manufactured a small actuation control boost circuit and a mobile phone piezoelectric control assistant application that makes it convenient to perform short-range non-contact control of the deformation of the squama. The proposed system arranges the deformed squamae into groups to form the skin and controlls the size and direction of the signals input to each group of the squama array, thereby making the skin able to produce different shapes to create deformable skin.

Keywords