Ionic polymer metal composites (IPMCs) are one of the most widely used types of electro-active polymer actuator, due to their low electric driving potential and large deformation range. In this research a tube type IPMC was investigated. This IPMC has a circular cross section with four separate electrodes on its surface and a hole through the middle. The four separate electrodes allows for biaxial bending and accurate control of the tip location. One of the main advantages of using this type of IPMC is the ability to embed a specific tool and accurately control the tool tip location using the large deflection range of the IPMC. This ability has widespread applications including in the biomedical field for use in catheter procedures. In this paper the results of the bending and force experiments were examined to validate the performance of this actuator obtained from the theoretical three dimensional COMSOL Multipysics model. An electromechanical model of the IPMC was developed and integrated into a closed loop control system. To improve functionality and the user interface the control system was designed to work on a laptop touchpad. This will provide a more familiar and intuitive interaction and cut down on operator training time.

Date Published: 9 April 2013
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 8687, Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) 2013, 86872Q (9 April 2013); doi: 10.1117/12.2009395

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8687:
Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) 2013
Yoseph Bar-Cohen, Editor(s)