Below a custom 4 channel high voltage controller that we designed and assembled at Queen Mary University (with Hugh Boys).
The device can be connected via USB and controlled with a custom Java program that I wrote (control different channels, amplitudes, frequencies). The number of channels in the custom Java program can be changed and the system can be connected serially to a laser measurement device for simultaneously control DEAs, read their displacement and save the data.
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Above are some prototypes and demos that I made in the lab/workshop experimenting with electronics, sensors and Dielectric Elastomer Actuators (DEAs).
We developed a proof of concept of a breakdown detection system for DEAs (presented at SPIE 2017). Reading a control voltage from a heavy voltage divider, the data is processed to understand if a breakdown has occured and stop driving the actuator to avoid damaging the electronics and the system.
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