Host: The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
Name : [in Japanese]
Date : June 28, 2023 - July 01, 2023
A biomimetic jellyfish robot was fabricated using ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) actuators. To mimic the curved shape of jellyfish, the robot was heat-treated to obtain a permanent hemispherical initial deformation. The shape and swimming behavior of this underwater robot is based on the shape of a species of oblate jellyfish known for its high locomotor efficiency. IPMC was used as the actuator to propel the jellyfish robot by contracting the bell. The robot was fabricated with a single IPMC and the electrode portion was minimized to reduce the robot's size and weight. Furthermore, to increase the amount of bending of the IPMC, eight different etching methods were tested on the Nafion film and optimized by comparing them with the amount of bending of the generated IPMC. As a result, the IPMC etched by laser surface processing showed the largest amount of bending and the bending angle exceeded 90°.
