Study\non the Twisted and Coiled Polymer Actuator with\nStrain Self-Sensing Ability

Abstract

Twisted\nand coiled polymer actuators (TCAs) are a kind of efficient\nartificial muscles, which have good prospects for application in soft\nrobots, bionic devices, and biological, medical, and other high-tech\nfields. However, the inability to dynamically sense and adjust the\nstrain of the actuator will lead to uncertainty in the accuracy of\ndeformation and strain, resulting in imprecise target action. Herein,\nTCAs with strain self-sensing ability (TCASA) are prepared by integrating\nthe stretchable optomechanical film (SOMF) sensors into TCAs, which\nprovides a simple strategy for dynamical strain sensing. These SOMFs\nhave a wide range of color changes during deformation of TCAs, and\nthe strain is perceived by observing the color change according to\nthe corresponding relationship between color change and strain. Furthermore,\nthe proposed TCASA maintain excellent cycling stability of strain\nself-sensing during cyclic tests (200 cycles) and excellent strain\nself-sensing performance to perform strain control compared to TCAs\nwithout SOMFs. The results indicate that the proposed structure is\na promising soft actuator with excellent strain self-sensing ability,\nwhich is well suited for soft robots, bionic devices, biological and\nmedical fields, smart wearable technologies, and so forth, especially\nwhen controlled, repetitive deformations are required.