Web-based actuator selection tool

Device designers are continually confronted with the challenge of selecting the best actuator for a task and developers of new actuators are seeking applications for which their technologies are suitable. A web-based interface is presented that enables designers to input basic needs (force, displacement, frequency, cycle life, dimensions, voltage and power available) and retrieve an initial evaluation of the suitability of the various actuator technologies in the database. The prototype contains data for a number of emerging technologies including conducting polymers, dielectric elastomers, ferroelectric polymers, thermal and magnetic shape memory alloys, carbon nanotube actuators, liquid crystal elastomers, ionic polymer metal composites and mammalian skeletal muscle. The system is very early in the development process, and it is hoped that feedback from the EAP community will help guide the growth of and establish the need for this tool.