We present an energetically autonomous robotic tadpole that uses a single membrane component for both electrical energy generation and propulsive actuation. The coupling of this small bio-inspired power source to a bio-inspired actuator demonstrates the first generation design for an energetically autonomous swimming robot comprised of a single membrane. An ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) ...

This paper presents the design, development and characterization of contractile water jet thruster (CWJT) for mini underwater robot. Instead of electric motor, this CWJT utilizes the Ionic Polymer Metal Composite (IPMC) as the actuator to generate the water jet. The main focus of this paper is to analyze the conceptual design of the proposed CWJT which would determine the thrust force value, je...

A dynamic, physics-based model is presented for ionic polymer–metal composite (IPMC) sensors. The model is an infinite-dimensional transfer function relating the short-circuit sensing current to the applied deformation. It is obtained by deriving the exact solution to the governing partial differential equation (PDE) for the sensing dynamics, where the effect of distributed surface resistance i...

Most fish and aquatic amphibians use the lateral line system, consisting of arrays of hairlike neuromasts, as an important sensory organ for prey/predator detection, communication, and navigation. In this paper a novel bio-inspired artificial lateral line system is proposed for underwater robots and vehicles by exploiting the inherent sensing capability of ionic polymermetal composites (IPMCs)....

This paper presents an innovative tuning fork-shaped ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) actuator. With an integrated soft strain gauge and water supply mechanism (WSM), the surface strain of the actuator can be sensed in situ, and providing a continuous water supply maintains the water content inside the IPMC for long-term operation in air. The actuator was fabricated using a micromachining t...

A computer vision system for measuring the displacement and bending angle of ionic polymer–metal composites (IPMC) was proposed in this study. The logical progression IPMC laid out. This study used Python (version 3.10) conjunction with OpenCV 4.5.5.64) development system. coding functions mathematical formulas were elaborated on. contour detection discussed detail, along appropriate camera lig...

The development of a wireless undulatory tadpole robot using ionic polymer–metal composite (IPMC) actuators is presented. In order to improve the thrust of the tadpole robot, a biomimetic undulatory motion of the fin tail is implemented. The overall size of the underwater microrobot prototype, shaped as a tadpole, is 96 mm in length, 24 mm in width, and 25 mm in thickness. It has one polymer fi...

Abstract Recently, researchers have concentrated on studying ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) artificial muscle, which has numerous advantages including a relatively large strain under low input voltage, flexibility, high response, noise, light weight, and driving energy density. This paper reports recent developments in IPMC improvement methods, modeling, applications. Different types of I...