26. Motion Control

Poly vinyl chloride (PVC) gel actuators show great potential because of such positive characteristics as movement in the air, large deformation, and being lightweight. We propose a configuration of a contraction type actuator and investigate its various characteristics. The contraction strain is 10–15 %, the response frequency is 3–7 Hz and the applied voltage 200–600 V. The generating stress is proportional to the number of layers, and the stress is then about 10 kPa when the actuator height is 10 mm. To use this actuator as a control element, we develop a mathematical model. Based on these results, we develop a position feedback control technique for the actuator and investigate the validity of the control method. The control law included a feed forward term to compensate for the elastic characteristic of the PVC gel actuator. The control method had good performance.