Design of chemo-mechanical actuator using self-oscillating gel

Abstract

The goal of our research is to develop a chemical robot, which unlike the conventional robots with electrical power source, is powered by a chemical reaction similar to living organism. The first step in our research is to design a chemomechanical actuator using a self-oscillating polymer gel, which undergoes periodical swelling-deswelling process. The swelling-deswelling process generates periodical oscillation as the basic movement of the actuator. We consider our research as a basic study for constructing new biologically-inspired robots which do not only mimic the structures and functions of living organism but also the internal mechanism for force generation