A self-sensing ion conducting polymer metal composite (IPMC) actuator

This paper describes a novel self-sensing ion-conductive polymer metal composite (IPMC) actuator. The actuator gives feedback of its own position and thereby can also be used as a position sensor. Unlike the IPMC sensors reported so far, the working principle of this actuator is based on the observation that the resistance of the IPMC metal surface electrode is correlated to the bending curvature. This paper represents the design of the self-sensing actuator. The working principle is described with the help of an equivalent circuit of the self-sensing actuator. The model and the performance of the self-sensing actuator are evaluated experimentally. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.