Electroactive Polymer Actuators for Soft Robotics II
A special issue of Actuators (ISSN 2076-0825).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2020) | Viewed by 537
Special Issue Editor
Interests: soft robotics; electro-active polymers; biomedical technologies; bio-inspired locomotion
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Electro-active polymer (EAP) actuators are a rapidly advancing class of transduction technologies that operate under electrical stimuli, which frees them from bulky sub-systems. This enables their integration within inherently compliant structures for advanced soft robotic functionality, such as integrated proprioception, self-healing, and embodied intelligence. EAPs create the opportunity for soft robotic systems that are untethered from hard supply systems, such as pumps or electric motors. EAP actuators are also characterized by large active strains, which, in some cases, can be comparable to biological muscle, and this creates a considerable potential for advanced bio-inspired and biomedical systems.
Despite these attractive characteristics, challenges such as robust control, modelling non-linear behaviour, and scalable fabrication have limited the application of EAP soft robotic systems outside of laboratory conditions. This Special Issue of Actuators will present high-quality publications that describe the latest advances of EAP actuators towards soft robotic systems.
Dr. Andrew T. Conn
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Actuators is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- Design and fabrication of EAPs
- Modelling and control of EAPs
- Soft robotics
- Artificial muscles
- Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs)
- Ionic polymer–metal composites (IPMCs)
- Hydrogels
- Piezoelectric polymers
- Conductive polymers
- Liquid crystal elastomers
- Ferroelectric polymers
