학술논문

IPMC Monolithic Thin Film Robots Fabricated Through a Multi-Layer Casting Process
Document Type
Periodical
Source
IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters IEEE Robot. Autom. Lett. Robotics and Automation Letters, IEEE. 4(2):1335-1342 Apr, 2019
Subject
Robotics and Control Systems
Computing and Processing
Components, Circuits, Devices and Systems
Casting
Actuators
Dispersion
Soft robotics
Gold
Electrodes
Soft sensors and actuators
soft robot applications
flexible robots
IPMC actuator
Language
ISSN
2377-3766
2377-3774
Abstract
In this letter, we report on a multi-layer casting process of an ionic polymer metal composite actuator to produce a monolithic thin film robot (MTFR). This robot is developed on the basis of the novel concept of a soft robot, which consists of a body united with actuators and does not require mechanical and electrical assembly process. An MTFR is made from only one thin film that involves membranes of a variety of thicknesses. The thick parts of the membrane function as bone structures, and the thin parts as actuators. This integral multi-function structure of the MTFR realizes an assembly-less manufacturing process. To produce the monolithic film with a distributed thickness,we propose the use of a multi-layer casting process. To demonstrate the potential of an MTFR for use in a biomimetic application, we manufactured butterfly- and anomalocaris-like MTFRs. Both the robots can be controlled by applying periodic voltage signals from only one electrode, and each actuator can be driven separately by utilizing the resonance phenomena.