An Advanced Mathematical Model and its Experimental Verification for Trilayer Conjugated Polymer Actuators

This paper describes the establishment of an enhanced mathematical model and an inversion-based controller based on the proposed model for a trilayer conjugated polymer actuator that will steer a cochlear implant through a 3-D structure. The multilayer electroactive polymer actuator that operates in air will suit many biomedical applications. We propose to use viscoelastic models for the conducting polymer and membrane layers of the actuator so that its mechanical properties can be incorporated into the actuator more accurately. The proposed model accurately predicts the frequency response of the electrical admittance and curvature of the conjugated polymer actuators, and its efficacy for different actuators has been experimentally evaluated. In addition, an inversion-based controller without an external sensor for position feedback data has successfully been evaluated to further validate the ability of the proposed model for sensorless position control of the actuators.