Frequency response of IPMC actuators: Physical characterization and identification for control

Ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) actuators have promising applications in robotics and medicine in a not distance future, which will require a big knowledge in different fields, such as, manufacturing, material characterization and control theory. In this paper, frequency response of several IPMC actuators, cut from the same bulk IPMC sheet...

Development of a fast shape memory alloy based actuator for morphing airfoils

The design of aerodynamic airfoils are optimized for certain conditions. For instance, the shape of the wings of fixed-wing aircrafts are designed and optimized for a certain flight condition (in terms of altitude, speed, aircraft weight, etc.). However, these flight conditions vary significantly during the flight. Currently, aircraft are...

General control framework for shape memory alloy based actuators

Shape Memory Alloy (SMA)-based actuators are versatile actuators with a high power-to-weight ratio. These actuators are ideal for applications such as smart wings and smart rotors. However, SMA-based actuators are generally difficult to control, due to a low bandwidth and a hysteretic and non-linear response. The general control framework, or...