Response Speed of Phase Change Based Soft Actuator Enhanced by Antagonistic Effect

The traditional pneumatic soft actuator offers significant advantages, including high output force and strong deformation capabilities, making it widely utilized in soft robotics. Building on this foundation, a phase change drive mechanism addresses the size and weight issues associated with pneumatic actuators, but it also results in prolonged working times. In this paper, we propose a method for manufacturing a chamber using PVA 3D printing and design an electrothermal soft actuator featuring a double multichamber structure driven by the principles of phase change. The actuator utilizes phase transformation to generate air pressure, which enhances the recovery speed and expands the working range through the antagonistic effect. Under low voltage (<8 V), the average deformation rate of the actuator designed in this paper is increased by more than 50% through the antagonistic effect of the double multicavity structure, which effectively improves the actuator’s overall efficiency. In addition, the actuator can achieve a unilateral deformation of 18.7 mm and generate a load output force of 540.7 g while weighing only 15.8 g.