Actuators

Actuators

1. Hydraulic

   • Pros; speed and pressure control
   • Cons; ext. PSU, heavy, slow, complex

2. Pneumatic

   • Pros; easy control
   • Cons; maintenance- specifically degradation of valve stiffness

3. Vacuum Suction Cups

   • Pros; handle fragile objects
   • Cons; non porous and strong contact area

4. Deformable rubber grippers

   • Cons; positional accuracy, occlusion
   • Pros; handle fragile objects

5. Bernoulli

   • Cons; light, flat and rigid components
   • Pros; non contact

6. Adhesives

   • Pros; strong grasp

7. Rheological Fluid

   • Cons; complex
   • Pros; control viscosity with electrical or magnetic field

8. SMA- Shape Memory Alloy

   • Cons; loss of power density, response delay with size
   • Pros; useful for micro applications