A biomimetic jellyfish robot based on ionic polymer metal composite actuators

摘要

A biomimetic jellyfish robot based on ionic polymer metal composite actuators was fabricatedand activated to mimic real locomotive behavior with pulse and recovery processes. To imitatethe curved shape of the jellyfish, a thermal treatment was applied to obtain a permanent initialdeformation of a hemispherical form. The bio-inspired input signal was generated for mimicking real locomotion of the jellyfish. The vertical floating displacement and the thrustforce of the biomimetic jellyfish robot under various input signals were measured andcompared. The present results show that the bio-inspired electrical input signal withpulse-recovery process generates much higher floating velocity of the biomimetic jellyfish robotin comparison with pure sinusoidal excitations. The curved shape of the IPMC actuator throughthermal treatments can be successfully applied to mimic the real biomimetic robots with smoothcurves.