Development of electric environment to control mollusk-shaped gel robots made of electroactive polymer PAMPS gel

Abstract

This paper describes the design and implementation of electric fields to actuate mollusk-shaped robots made entirely of PAMPS gel, which is a kind of electro-active polymer (EAP). The purpose of this study is to develop a system to control the shape of both simulated and real gel robots using electric fields. We present a modeling framework and experimental results using a prototype mollusk-shaped EAP robot that locomotes by changing the shape of its whole body.