3 accepted papers
Ionic polymer-metal composites (IPMC) actuators are popular because they can be driven at a low voltage, possess excellent responsiveness, and can perform soft motions similar to that of living creatures. Conventional IPMC soft robots are manufactured by cutting and assembling IPMC sheets. However,…
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 mecha
Among the various pneumatic actuators, thin McKibben muscles are particularly attractive owing to their high performance in terms of high contraction ratio, high flexibility, and productivity. One of the challenges for thin McKibben muscles and other pneumatic actuators is the fact that they general…