An Automotive SMA Mirror Actuator: Modeling, Design, and Experimental Evaluation

Shape memory alloys (SMAs) provide compact and effective actuation for a variety of mechanical systems. Automotive applications of these materials, although very attractive, have not been fully explored. The lack of activities in this area is partly due to the complex thermomechanical behavior of these materials. In this work a two degree of freedom SMA actuator has been developed to orient the position of a rearview mirror for automotive applications. This paper presents the design, modeling, and experimental evaluation of this SMA mirror actuator. To evaluate the performance of the actuator a prototype SMA actuated mirror is designed and fabricated. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the SMA actuator in positioning the mirror.