Biologically inspired robots

Abstract

The promise of Electroactive Polymers (EAP) and associated muscle technologies lies beyond their use as simply an alternative actuation system. Because of their soft nature, both physically and systemically, a new range of robotic designs can be addressed, including those that more closely resemble designs found in nature. Conceptually simplest is the exploitation of the inherent spring and damping characteristics of muscle actuators. By tuning the characteristics of the actuator, it may be possible to build more functionally flexible systems that are at the same time more robust and stable. More ambitiously, EAP could be coupled with techniques in rapid prototyping, novel control methods, and genetic algorithm system design to create a new class of highly integrated robots that are more efficient in their design time, resource requirements, and operational characteristics. These ideas may have particular relevance for the creation of micro-robots, a possible design of which is proposed.