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Using proprietary technology, Discover Technologies has developed ionomeric polymer transducers that are capable of
long-term operation in air. These "Plastic MuscleTM" transducers are useful as soft distributed actuators and sensors and
have a wide range of applications in the aerospace, robotics, automotive, electronics, and biomedical industries.
Discover Technologies is developing novel fabrication methods that allow the Plastic MusclesTM to be manufactured on
a commercial scale.
The Plastic MuscleTM transducers are capable of generating more than 0.5% bending strain at a peak strain rate of over
0.1 %/s with a 3 V input. Because the Plastic MusclesTM use an ionic liquid as a replacement solvent for water, they are
able to operate in air for long periods of time. Also, the Plastic MusclesTM do not exhibit the characteristic "back
relaxation" phenomenon that is common in water-swollen devices.
The elastic modulus of the Plastic MuscleTM transducers is estimated to be 200 MPa and the maximum generated stress
is estimated to be 1 MPa. Based on these values, the maximum blocked force at the tip of a 6 mm wide, 35 mm long
actuator is estimated to be 19 mN. Modeling of the step response with an exponential series reveals nonlinearity in the
transducers' behavior.
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