Efficient active actuation to imitate locomotion of gecko's toes using an ionic polymer-metal composite actuator enhanced by carbon nanotubes

Active actuation of the adhesive pads is important for a gecko-robot climbing on walls. We demonstrate the fabrication of an ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) actuator enhanced with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and its use for actively actuating an adhesive array to imitate the locomotion of gecko's toes. The as-fabricated IPMC actuator doped with CNTs exhibits a maximum blocking force of 3.59 gf driven at a low voltage of 3 V. It can be easily controlled by voltage signals to actuate an artificial gecko's toe to attach and detach from a surface. This will allow active, distributed actuation in a gecko robot. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4756999]