An actuator model of ICPF for robotic applications on the basis of physicochemical hypotheses

The ICPF (ionic conducting polymer gel film) actuator is a new high polymer gel actuator by which revolutionary robotic mechanisms are expected. Actuator models for CAE are essential to the robotic design. However, present black/gray-box models of ICPF cannot express its nonlinear characteristics with enough accuracy. In this paper, a white-box actuator model is proposed on the basis of physicochemical hypotheses on the motion principle which are supported at present. In this model, travel of sodium ions and water molecules in the actuator membrane is modeled. Internal stress is generated by swell and contraction of the gel by water content change, electrostatic force of fixed sulfonic acid groups, and momentum conservation effect. Simulation results show higher accuracy on transient response and nonlinear characteristics in comparison with conventional models.