A curvature sensor using a solid polymer electrolyte

Issue title: Selected Papers from the 14th International Symposium on Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics (ISEM 2009), Part I

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Okuyama, Takeshi^{a; *} | Otsuki, Manabu^b | Komiya, Ryota^c | Sugoh, Nozomu^c | Tanaka, Mami^b

Affiliations: [a] Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-04 Aramaki-Aoba, Aoba, Sendai 980-8579, Japan | [b] Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-04 Aramaki-Aoba, Aoba, Sendai 980-8579, Japan | [c] Tsukuba Research Laboratories, Kuraray Co., Ltd., 41 Miyukigaoka, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0841, Japan

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author. Tel./Fax: +81 22 795 5879; E-mail: okuyama@rose.mech.tohoku.ac.jp

Abstract: This paper describes a development of a polymer sensor using a solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) film. The sensor has a basic structure that an SPE film is sandwiched between thin carbon films, and conductive tapes are attached on each carbon film. The SPE film has a good flexibility and it is one of the most promising electroactive polymers (EAP) with capability to be used as an actuator and a sensor in air. First a displacement sensor using the SPE film was fabricated. The response to deformation was investigated. Then a curvature sensor using the SPE film is proposed. In experiments, it was found that the proposed sensor is available to measure curvature directly without complex calculations.

Keywords: Solid polymer electrolyte, electroactive polymer, sensor, curvature measurement

DOI: 10.3233/JAE-2010-1191

Journal: International Journal of Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics, vol. 33, no. 1-2, pp. 823-829, 2010