IPMC actuator-based a movable robotic venus flytrap

Abstract

Nature is a perfect model for a robot. Besides the insects and underwater animals, some carnivorous plants which are capable of rapid movement, such as mimosa, the venus fly trap, the telegraph plant, sundews and bladderworts, are of great interest for the biomimetic robot design. Carnivorous plants, such as Venus flytrap, can be turned on in a controlled manner to capture prey by using their trigger hairs as detecting sensors. In our previous research, we designed a robotic Venus flytrap by using two ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) actuators and one proximity sensor. To enlarge its working area in real applications, we improved it by integrating biomimetic walking and rotating motions into the previous version. First, we proposed a conceptual structure of the improved robotic Venus flytrap which consisted of two IPMC lobes, one proximity sensor, and eight IPMC legs. Then, we developed a prototype movable robotic Venus flytrap and evaluated its walking and rotating speeds by using different applied signal voltages. At last, to reduce the gaps between two IPMC lobes, we improved the robotic flytrap by using three IPMC lobes. The experimental results showed a good performance.