A biomimetic underwater robot was designed utilizing ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) artificial muscles. The actuators were controlled by thermal and electrical inputs, taking advantage of both the shape-memory and electromechanical behavior of the material, to achieve multiple swimming modes in the proposed robot. The design was inspired by the pectoral fish swimming modes, such as stingrays, knifefish, and cuttlefish. The robot was actuated by two soft fins which consisted of multiple embedded IPMC actuators connected with an Eco-Flex membrane. Through electromechanical actuation, a traveling wave was generated on the soft fin. The deformation and the blocking force of the IPMCs on the fin were measured to characterize the actuators. An experimental setup was also designed in a flow channel to measure the thrust force of the robot under different frequencies and traveling wave numbers in a captive state. Experiments determined a peak thrusting force of 12 mN at a frequency of 0.5 Hz and wave number of 1, and twisting deformations of 30°were obtained. Additionally, shape-memory was utilized to change the swimming mode of the robot from Gymnotiform to Mobuliform. The designed underwater robot utilizes IPMC materials with multi-input control, enabling high deformability, with available maneuverability and agility in future studies.

In this paper a roadmap is described for future work using stereo thermal cameras to locate and avoid heat sources or hot-spots commonly encountered in disaster remediation tasks using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The proposed stereo forward looking infrared (FUR) camera system will allow a UAV to locate bodies of heat, avoid such bodies to protect its sensitive mechanical and electronic components, and identify those heat sources globally in an objective frame in order to aid remote flight operators in the mapping of unknown and often hazardous environments. The locations of these identified bodies of heat can be combined with more traditional sensors used for obstacle detection such as UDAR or a Time of Flight (ToF) camera to allow first responders to deploy UA V in many different types of emergency events. First responders can easily operate UA Vs semi-autonomously to gather information, and act decisively without having to provide obstacle free paths for UA Vs in advance. A 3D vector mesh (VM) avoidance algorithm will be used with sensor data from the stereo FUR cameras, UDAR, and the ToF camera to achieve both physical and thermal obstacle avoidance. The combination of these avoidance measures will facilitate the creation of a robust and semi autonomous UA V platform that may provide critical support to first responders in typical disaster remediation tasks.

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As cancer becomes the No.1 cause of the death in Japan, endoscopic surgery is gaining attentions. In this paper, endoscopical tool to grip and lift the targeted tumor in ESD (Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection) surgery is proposed. This articulated microarm is part of new ESD surgery concept in which two wire-driven microarms (1 x 1 x 25 mm) from the tip of the endoscope help lift the tumor to cut. This research needs to emphasize a new fabrication method of arm which is fabricated by photolithography and electroplating. The microarm is composed of five layers. Individual layers are fabricated separately and assembled together in the end. The microarm uses the elastic deformation of metal to bend (Cu or Phosphor Bronze). It is feedback control with PID using a strain gauge attached to the articulated joint.This technique enabled the further miniaturization of the microarm, but it also comes with a downside. It is difficult to build a 3-dimensional structure. We overcame this problem by proposing an assembly method (STAMP: Stacked Microassembly Process). Electroplated layers are assembled by stacking up on top of each other. This assembly process is feasible to produce multiple microarms at one assembly, thus mass-production with low cost is possible. A strain gauge is attached to the elastic joint as an angle sensor.