An electroactive IPMC-based cylindrical robotic platform

Ionic polymer-metal composites (IPMCs) are soft electroactive materials with actuating and sensing capabilities that have potential applications in biomedicine as active catheters and surgical probes. In this study, we design and develop a cylindrical IPMC with multiple degrees-of-freedom motion capability for application as a robotic catheter platform. The main advantage of using this type of IPMC is the ability to embed specific tool through the cylinder-shaped IPMC, allowing an accurate control of the tool tip in catheter procedures. The multi-DOF functionality is achieved by uniquely sectored electrodes on the surface of cylinder-shaped ionic polymer. The cylindrical IPMC is 20 mm in length, has an outer diameter of 1.3 mm and inner diameter of 0.7 mm. We successfully demonstrated that the multi-DOF bending of the fabricated cylindrical IPMC is feasible. The design optimization on different cylinder wall thicknesses, diameters and electrode dimensions as well as developing better control systems is currently in progress. 3D FEM was developed and calculations were carried out to confirm the model validity. Furthermore, model was used to show how the undulating motion of a rod-shaped IPMC could be achieved.