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Wearable textile antenna is most appropriate for Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) applications due to its flexibility, compactness, and user compatibility. Dual band antenna has advantage in duplex communication, hence it is desirable. In this paper, a dualband microstrip antenna is designed using textile material as a substrate with a circular patch and a rectangular patch. Methods from literature and experimentation are compared based on performance parameters. Slots are loaded on the patch to achieve dual-band characteristics. HFSS software has been used to simulate the proposed antenna, and the results are compared with the fabricated antenna based on Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR), directivity, return loss, gain, impedance, and radiation pattern. Since the antenna operates with close proximity to the human body, the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) is also calculated using the CST software and is found within the prescribed limits.

Abstract. The usage of Ionic Polymer-Metal Composite (IPMC) actuator as the propulsor for underwater robot has been worked out by many scientists and researchers. IPMC actuator had been selected due to its advantages such as low energy consumption, low operation noise and ability to work underwater. This paper presents the fabrication and characterization of the IPMC actuator. The IPMC actuator samples had been fabricated using electroless plating for three different thickness and lengths. The characterization was conducted to determine the influence of the thickness, length, input frequency, drive voltage and orientation angle on the tip force and output frequency. The results show that IPMC thickness has significant influence on the tip force generation and lower input frequency would results wider displacement. The recorded results are essential as future reference in developing the propulsor for the underwater robot. Besides, IPMC actuator consumes low energy between 1V and 3V, depend of type of the task [7]. IPMC actuator has few other advantages such as low noise operation and large bending strain [8]. However, this actuator has constraints that should be considered in order to develop the underwater Introduction