EAP material and product manufacturers
This website is part of the WW-EAP Webhub that covers the topic of electroactive polymers (EAP) that are also known as artificial muscles. It was prepared by Dr. Yoseph Bar-Cohen, a Senior Research Scientist and Group Supervisor at JPL, and it is one of the links of his JPL’s NDEAA Webhub. This website was prepared in an effort to help answering the question: “where can I get these materials?” and to help those who cannot make the material themselves by following the description on the WW-EAP Recipe website. While the following list may not cover every EAP company in the world it includes most of the companies that Dr. Bar-Cohen was aware of their existence.
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Company Name,
Contact person, E-mail, Website |
EAP materials/processes/products |
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Artificial Muscle, Inc. (AMI)* Corporate Headquarters address: 1320 Orleans Drive Sunnyvale, CA 94089 (408) 215-7320
Dave Humphreys Direct: (408) 215-7362 http://www.artificialmuscle.com/contact.php *Founded by SRI International |
Artificial Muscle, Inc.
(AMI) is a developer, designer, and manufacturer of actuator components based
on the patented Electroactive Polymer Artificial Muscle (EPAM/dielectric
elastomer type actuators). AMI has focused its first products on the haptic
feedback (tactile) market for consumer electronics. In addition, AMI is
actively advancing its EPAM technology and expanding the serviced markets for
force sensing, power generation, valves, pumps, optical positioners, and
medical applications. AMI offers evaluation kits.
ViviTouch: |
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Danfoss PolyPower
A/S Member of the Danfoss group
Ken Graversen Director Sales &
Marketing Michael Hamann General Manager and President |
DEAP material with patented
design of the metal electrodes deposited on a micro structured elastomer
surface Available evaluation samples ready for ordering
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EAMEX
Corporation 3-9-30 Tarumicyo Suita,
Shingo Sewa or Kazuo Onishi; web@eamex.co.jp http://www.eamex.co.jp/index_e.html |
EAP
actuators for medical applications (nursing equipment, catheter, guide wires,
and rehabilitation instrument); robotics; industry (manipulator and
conveyance equipment); hobby and art, as well as customized EAP
products. Specifically, Materials 1. Actuators and sensors made of ion-conductive
membranes 2. Ion-conductive actuator rods 3. Conductive Polymer Actuators based on PPy Devices 1. Auto-focus device for
mobile phones using ion-conductive polymer |
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EMPA:
Swiss federal laboratory of Materials
Science and Technology www.empa.ch/eap Überlandstrasse 129 CH-8600 Dübendorf
Gabor Kovacs, Ph.D. Senior Scientist Silvain Michel Head of EAP Group |
· Material:
Dielectric Elastomer Actuator (Acrylic, silicone,...) · Design:
Rolled, Planar and Stack Actuators in the Macro Scale · Chemical
Synthesis and Post-processing, Pre-Industrial Manufacturing facilities,
Determination of Material Properties, Modeling of visco-
hyperelastic DE Materials |
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Environmental
Robots Incorporated 909
Virginia, NE., Suite 205, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87108, USA
NOTE: ERI offers complimentary samples. For information please visit their website, click on
products and then on complimentary samples. |
· IPMC-based and ionic polymer actuators,
transducers, and sensors · IPMC and conductive polymer EAP for biomedical
engineering and medical applications · Kits of bending and contractile EAP, ionic polymeric
fiber bundles, conductive polymers and chemically activated polymers IPMC |
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MCNC
Research and Development Institute
Scott Goodwin goodwin@mcnc.org, http://www.mcnc.org/rdi/ |
Dielectric EAP device
development and prototyping of ·
"Artificial
Eyelid" polymer flexible film ·
Electrostatic
MEMS actuator ·
Integrated
force array and electrostatic polymer actuator Artificial Eyelid |
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Molecular
Mechanisms LLC
Customer Support, sales@molecularmechanisms.com,
www.molecularmechanisms.com |
·
Development of
EAP based mechanisms ·
Polypyrrole (PPy) tapes for Conductive Polymers (CP) EAP Bilayer CP EAP activated in
air |
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NanoSonic, Inc.
Richard O. Claus,
President; info@nanosonic.com; http://www.nanosonic.com |
·
Low modulus sensors
for strain, vibration and fluid flow ·
Free-standing
conductive and reflective elastomeric membranes ·
Flexible
electroding for EAP actuators using modified self-assembly (demonstrated for
dielectric EAP) Stretchable electroding
material |
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Quantum
Technology Pty. Ltd. 5 South
Street, Rydalmere, N.S.W. 2126, Australia
Tim
Connell |
· Development of
EAP actuators for Braille Cells as an aid to visually impaired and blind.
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Santa
Fe Science and Technology Benjamin Mattes,
President and C.E.O., mattes@sfst.net |
·
Conductive
polymer EAP in the form of fibers and yarns ·
Prototyping
linear EAP Actuators called Panion Panion CP EAP |
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Strategic Polymer Sciences, Inc. (SPS) 200 Innovation Blvd., Suite 237 State College, PA 16803 814-238-7400
Dean Anderson, Director of Operations danderson@strategicpolymers.com |
•
Manufactures electroactive polymer (EAP) films for
high dielectric constant fluoropolymers as well as
commercializes the following: •
High energy density capacitors •
High strain actuators •
Solid-state active cooling modules
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StretchSense Limited Level 6, 70 Symonds Street Auckland 1010 New Zealand Ph: +64 9 923 9193
Ben O’Brien, CEO A Biomimetics Laboratory
spin-out |
StretchSense have combined revolutionary soft polymer sensors with Bluetooth™
connectivity to make it easy to measure soft structures like the human body. 1.
Measure large strains unobtrusively using soft silicone sensors. 2.
Record data on your Bluetooth™ enabled smartphone, tablet or laptop.
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SynapTech 500 E Washington,
Suite 10 Ann Arbor, MI
48109 (734)408-1327 Eugene Daneshvar |
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Also, the following
are suppliers of PVDF films:
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KTech
·
Measurement
Specialties, Inc.
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AIRMAR Technology Corp.
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PIEZOTECH S.A. (France)