Modular multi-channel high voltage arbitrary waveform generator and imaging setup for dielectric elastomer actuator characterisation
M. Vu,
M. Lewandowski,
X. Guo,
A. Weightman,
S. Watson,
T.J. Echtermeyer
Affiliations
M. Vu
Photon Science Institute, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom; Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom; Corresponding author at: Photon Science Institute, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom.
M. Lewandowski
Department of Computer Science, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom
X. Guo
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom
A. Weightman
Department of Mechanical Aerospace and Civil Engineering, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom
S. Watson
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom
T.J. Echtermeyer
Photon Science Institute, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom; Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom; National Graphene Institute, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom
Various applications require multi-channel high-voltage sources for their control, e.g. electrostatic adhesion, electrophoresis and artificial muscles such as piezoelectric, hydraulically amplified self-healing electrostatic(HASEL) and dielectric elastomer actuators(DEAs). Further, the ability to simultaneously monitor the state of the actuators either with images, or voltage and current sensing is crucial to characterise their behaviour. In this work, we present the design of a versatile characterisation setup, capable of generating eight HV (15 kV) arbitrary waveforms(rise time of 8 ms and fall time of 80 ms for 60 MΩ load), while synchronously monitoring voltage and current, and record high-speed (120 fps) video. The setup ensures modularity and customisability by consisting of three independent modules: (1) The imaging module includes a Raspberry Pi and a Pi Camera; (2) A 3.3 V analogue interface 16-bit resolution data acquisition module on a PCB that accommodates a microcontroller board, two 8-channel analogue-to-digital converters, and an 8-channel digital-to-analogue converter; (3) Up to 8 DC-to-HVDC converter boards powered by 12 V DC, with 3.3 V analogue interface.
