A Self-Sensing Method for IPMC Actuator

This paper describes a novel method of self-sensing Ion-conductive Polymer Metal Composite (IPMC) actuator. Unlike the previous self-sensing technique, the proposed principle is based on the electric charge of the IPMC itself, which is correlated with its curvature. At the normal state, IPMC is electrically charged, and the amount varies according to the status of IPMC. While it is operated as an actuator, it also gives position information in the form of the electric charge amount, which is utilized for fast and accurate position control. In order to get the bending status of the actuator, the instantaneous voltage of IPMC is measured during the open state for input signal. The uncomplicated system is constructed to verify if the developed method is effective for the selfsensing actuator and evaluated by the experimental basis. The way to actuate the IPMC with selfsensing is a supplying discrete signal as an input, and it is also evaluated experimentally. This research also represents relatively simple structure for both actuation and sensing, which is very important factor to be implemented as a controller circuit for various applications.