Actuation and Sensing properties of Electroactive Polymer Whiskers

• DOI: 10.1016/j.procs.2012.01.093
• Publication Date: 2012-02-06T00:09:23Z
• Authors: Nicolas Festin; Cédric Plesse; Claude Chevrot; Dominique Teyssié; Lou Josselin; Patrick Pirim; Frederic Vidal
• Keywords: Tactile sensor; Whisker; Conducting polymer; Interpenetrating Polymer network; EAP actuator; 01 natural sciences; PEDOT; 0104 chemical sciences

AbstractIn a world of unknown, touch modality is a key avenue for environments exploration. Implementation of such modality in mobile robot has been a major challenge for many research teams. Recently, several artificial whisker systems have been studied as promising tactile sensor. One key to the whisker's functionality is its sensor system. Our laboratory recently synthesized new electroactive polymer (EAP) actuator/sensor based on interpenetrated polymer networks (IPN) as host matrix and electrically conducting polymer. The first results of such actuator/sensor devices and their integration in a whisker prototype will be presented.