Electro-mechanical flapping produced by ionic polymer-metal composites

An IPMC actuated flapping wing has been designed and demonstrated for mimicking flapping motion of a bird wing. The flapping wing can produce twist motion as well as flap up and down motions. For design of the wing, an equivalent beam model has been proposed based on the measured force-displacement data. The equivalent model is used to determine suitable IPMC actuator patterns that can create twist motion during up- and down-strokes of the wing. The IPMC actuator pattern is inserted in a wing-shaped plastic film to form a complete flapping wing. Experimental results show that the properly shaped IPMCs can create anisotropic motion that is often required for producing effective thrust and lift forces in bird flight.