Miniaturized shape memory alloy actuators fabricated using microstereophotolithography.

A new method for the fabrication of actuators has been implemented. It is based on polymer structures built using microstereophotolithography (mu SPL) integrating Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) elements. The principle of the proposed approach consists in the assembly of SMA wires together with passive mechanical architectures fabricated using mu SPL techniques. A light aided assembly method based on photopolymerization has been adjusted to clamp SMA parts to mu SPL parts. This approach has been implemented to build actuators using distributed elasticity or liable hinge architectures. These actuators have been associated in parallel or serie to produce new active mechanical components. Some of these actuators have been experimentally tested. The obtained results are presented and discussed.