Recent Development of Dielectric Elastomer Transducers and Potential Applications

Power generation using dielectric elastomer transducers is cheap, light, stackable, easy to install, and highly efficient. Also, since the dielectric elastomer transducer is an actuator developed into an artificial muscle, if the DE motor is further developed, it might be possibly be able to drive a vehicle. Efficient robot driving, various industrial machines and the use of dielectric elastomer sensors to optimize the driving may also help solve the above problems from the perspective of eco-driving. This paper describes the latest level of development of dielectric elastomers, their main problems and solutions to these problems, and their potential applications. The possibilities and concrete plans for building local global smart cities (including local generation power for local consumption), efficient transportation, and environmental monitoring systems utilizing dielectric elastomers are also discussed.