LED Pouch Motor: Wavelength Selective Wireless Actuation of Dyed Liquid-to-Gas Phase Change Actuators Using LEDs
Kazuki Yamaura, Hiroki Ishizuka, Takefumi Hiraki
Abstract
Untethered soft actuators that operate without physical connections to external power sources or control system cables are an active area of research for their potential applications in human-robot interaction, haptic devices, and 4D printing due to their wide range of motion and high degrees of freedom. Among these actuators, liquid-to-gas phase change actuators have a simple structure and can generate higher output force using photothermal conversion. In this study, we propose a novel control method for untethered soft actuators by dyeing the low-boiling-point liquids used in liquid-to-gas phase change actuators. The dyed low-boiling-point liquids exhibit different light absorption spectra matching their color, enabling wavelength-selective actuation using light sources with corresponding wavelengths. We evaluated and discussed this control method in terms of the relationship between irradiance and output, actuation speed, and continuous operation. Additionally, we prototyped a robotic arm to demonstrate selective motion according to the light color.
BibTeX
@inproceedings{ral2026_ledpouchmotorwav,
title = {LED Pouch Motor: Wavelength Selective Wireless Actuation of Dyed Liquid-to-Gas Phase Change Actuators Using LEDs},
author = {Kazuki Yamaura and Hiroki Ishizuka and Takefumi Hiraki},
booktitle = {RA-L 2026},
year = {2026}
}