Actuators built from Nitinol have highest power and volume to weight ratios

Actuators Blog Posts

All blog posts below are about actuation using nitinol wire. Click on the image to see the whole post.

These mini locks are similar to common ‘cabinet locks’ or ‘gate locks.’ But by employing ultrathin SMA wire made thinner, lighter, and quieter than any other existing technology. Actuation time can be in milliseconds and can meet locking force requirements of 100...

Volume ready customizable nitinol actuator

The S125 is a volume-ready Shape Memory Alloy wire actuator, with a MOSFET switching & protection circuitry on a Printed Circuit Board substrate. The ideal uses are latch or trigger release mechanisms for battery-powered devices. The S125 is a short-stroke...

High Force Valve Actuator

This prototype actuator was designed to provide 24 pounds of force and 3/8" of stroke. There is a U-shaped Nitinol wire actuator on each side of the PCB (only one is currently installed), and they operate on a shared linkage. The SMA wire used here was 0.020"...

Advanced Low Profile SMA Actuator

-Our custom MOSFET/Protection Circuit is on each PCB-Actuator-Typical 3-wire interface: Power, Ground, and Enable. When you raise the Enable line logic level HIGH, we energize until you lower the Enable. The actuator moves to the end of stroke, and 'holds' there...

Intel Chromat Adrenaline Dress powered by Flexinol

We designed the complex Nitinol actuating mechanism behind this dress that was worn on the runway at NY Fashion Week 2015 and at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2016. The Chromat Adrenaline Dress powered by Intel is composed of printed panels designed in an...

Hydramax Exhibit using 60 Nitinol Actuators

Hydramax was an architectural model created by Future Cities Lab and installed in the San Francisco MOMA for 6 months. The model was designed to respond to museum goers with soft illumination and gentle organic operation of the roof panels. The silent organic...

Laptop lid Nitinol actuator latch

Originally developed for a European laptop manufacturer. The SMA actuator electronically releases the tablet from keyboard/CPU, so you can have a stand alone tablet/touchscreen. SMA is able to provide high-force motion even in the extremely tight spaces within a...

Shape Memory Alloy Actuator Bounce Rotating Control

This is a rotary Nitinol actuator bouncing between end limits. This actuator was designed to move the eyelids in a volume ready toy doll - Baby Bright Eyes. We called her Baby Fright Eyes, because it was so scary to look into her eyeballs, thus the failure of the...

Proportional control for rotating actuator

This is a 12-layer printed coil operated in proportional mode to control the angle of a magnet suspended in the field of the coil.Our Offices Fishers, IN, USA Silverton, OR, USAContact Us Click here for our web form, we'll get right back to you.Office Hours Mon-Sat:...

Latch Release Actuator

Latch Release with 1.5 pounds of force using shape memory alloy wire. This was used as a payload release mechanism for a large military drone. This is a payload release on a life-cycle test fixture. Cycling against a 2-pound spring, powered by a 9V Duracell Lithium...

Tiny Snap Action Flexure Nitinol Actuator

This is a simple actuator using 0.008" HT Flexinol to develop a bending mode operation. It is designed to operate at 2.5 Volts.Our Offices Fishers, IN, USA Silverton, OR, USAContact Us Click here for our web form, we'll get right back to you.Office Hours Mon-Sat: 8am...

Solid State Pump or Valve Actuator / Valve Controller

An embedded coil, 12 layer spiral as shown, can be used to move a magnet which could be used to create a very small solid state pump (for air or liquid) or valve system arrays. Using standard printed circuit board (PCB) more than 1,000 of such devices can be printed...

Solid State Submersible Solenoid Actuator Operating Under Water

Operating at 1/3 Hz to 3,300 Hz using an H-Bridge driver and an Arduino Uno operating at 12 Volts. This demonstrated the ability to operate in water and shows that the water cools the device enough to operate at high speed and high force.Our Offices Fishers, IN, USA...

Pulley Valve Nitinol Actuator

This is a high force linear actuator with a single SMA wire wound around pulleys to provide high force.Our Offices Fishers, IN, USA Silverton, OR, USAContact Us Click here for our web form, we'll get right back to you.Office Hours Mon-Sat: 8am - 5pmSun: ClosedFollow...

Haptic Actuator Operating Speed Demo

This video shows the operating frequency capabilities of our Haptic Actuator prototype. Demonstrating various tones, clicks and sweeps using an Arduino Uno and an H-Bridge driver.Our Offices Fishers, IN, USA Silverton, OR, USAContact Us Click here for our web form,...

Credit Card Scale High Force Nitinol Actuator

We have found that printed circuit boards (PCB) are great substrates on which to build Nitinol actuators. Using standard PCB design and assembly technology, high precision components and circuitry can be pick and placed along with actuator components. This allows for...

Wireless Bluetooth Control of Shape Memory Alloy Actuators

A demonstration of using a remote controlled battery powered latch release mechanism and a printed coil.Our Offices Fishers, IN, USA Silverton, OR, USAContact Us Click here for our web form, we'll get right back to you.Office Hours Mon-Sat: 8am - 5pmSun: ClosedFollow...

Ganged Over-Stress Protected SMA actuator

This actuator has 7 mm of stroke at 125 pounds of force. These three ganged actuators operate in series and are an example of an over-stress protected actuator.Our Offices Fishers, IN, USA Silverton, OR, USAContact Us Click here for our web form, we'll get right back...

Crimps on 0.015″ diameter Flexinol

High strength crimps applied to Dynalloy's 0.015" diameter Flexinol capable of holding 30 pounds. The wire breaks before the crimp comes off. These crimps go way beyond anything else commercially available.Our Offices Fishers, IN, USA Silverton, OR, USAContact Us...

Haptic Actuator as Sound Speaker

Here we use a printed coil actuator to create a speaker from a plastic cup. We have also built these into headphones. Sound quality is very acceptable for a first prototype.Our Offices Fishers, IN, USA Silverton, OR, USAContact Us Click here for our web form, we'll...

Nitinol Actuator Over-Stress Protection

Nitinol actuators are very easily damaged if the stress exceeds roughly 40 ksi or if the temperature exceeds 150 degrees C. This is a demonstration of mechanical over-stress protection in which flexures deflect very short distances when an engineered or pre-determined...

Magnetic Energized Array Demo

First prototype of a tightly packed printed coil array. Attempting to drive an array of magnets using multiple miniature printed coils.Our Offices Fishers, IN, USA Silverton, OR, USAContact Us Click here for our web form, we'll get right back to you.Office Hours...

Pick and place actuator circuit boards

These boards are as received from our board manufacturer and are ready for the insertion of pins as guides for the stainless steel stages. We swage the Nitinol wire in place after insertion of the stages to create our custom Nitinol actuators. We routinely do pilot...

Center Post Rail Gun Actuator

Twelve layer printed coils are used to launch a small Neodymium Iron Borate magnet. We use short 10 ms pulses in the coil at 30 Volts.Our Offices Fishers, IN, USA Silverton, OR, USAContact Us Click here for our web form, we'll get right back to you.Office Hours...

Tiny Rotary Nitinol Actuator Motion Demo

This is a rotary Nanomuscle operating at 9 Volts. It is capable 60 degrees of rotation in both directions. The actuation velocity capability is 240 degrees per second. The SMA diameter is 0.0035" HT Flexinol wire.Our Offices Fishers, IN, USA Silverton, OR, USAContact...

Nitinol Force Multiplier Pulley System in Mineral Oil

Our Offices Fishers, IN, USA Silverton, OR, USAContact Us Click here for our web form, we'll get right back to you.Office Hours Mon-Sat: 8am - 5pmSun: ClosedFollow Us Someday we'll get on social media, maybe.

Custom Actuator Controller with MOSFETS – single boards or large arrays

We design our own circuits for control of our client's projects. We have access to US and overseas circuit board manufacturers that can create single boards or large arrays. This board has pins for an Arduino Pro Mini to sit on top of the board.Our Offices Fishers,...

1/4-Pound One-Way Solid State Latching Actuator

A magnetic detent on one printed coil provides a preferred location for the magnet that is shared between the two coils. When the coil is energized the magnet escapes the detent and travels to the opposite side. When the coil is de-energized the magnet returns to the...

Haptic Actuator Demo with TI Evaluation Board

Our Offices Fishers, IN, USA Silverton, OR, USAContact Us Click here for our web form, we'll get right back to you.Office Hours Mon-Sat: 8am - 5pmSun: ClosedFollow Us Someday we'll get on social media, maybe.

Active Shock Damper Actuator

This was a technology demonstrator that flew on a university Cubesat satellite. The technology was used to damp motion of the spacecraft after momentum events such as solar array deployment. Active dampers are used in tall buildings to lessen the effects of building...

Side Flex Latch Nitinol Actuator

This prototype actuator provided actuation along the narrow axis of the actuator. The idea was to use the music wire flexures as biasing springs and to make it as thin as possible. It is capable of developing roughly 1 pound of force without exceeding a design limit...

Shape Memory Alloy Automotive Active Grille Mechanism (AGM) or Shutters

Our very first project was prototyping an SMA powered Active Grille Mechanism (AGM) for BMW. The actuator provided one inch of powered stroke in both directions. In order to overcome wind resistance at high speed the actuators needed to provide more than 5 pounds of...