Measuring Motion Parameters of Ionic Polymer-Metal Composites (IPMC) Actuators with a CCD Camera

Abstract

An image processing system for the measurement of small movements of synthetic IPMC materials is presented in this work. The proposed technique is based on extracting the appropriate information from subsequent pictures-frames. Since the time-difference between these pictures is known, it is possiblefor the system to calculate both displacements and speed of the moving part. The processing algorithm implements a fully automated procedure for the localization ofthe point ofinterest (i.e. the edge of a micro-robotic wing) in every frame and then calculates the distance (displacement) between subsequent frames. This method is particularly usefulfor rather large movements ofthe IPMC strips as found in micro-robotic applications. The results obtained by the proposed system are also compared with concurrent measurements by a high accuracy laser positioning system, and have been found quite satisfactory for the specific application (resolution better than 0. 5mm)

Modeling IPMC Actuators for Model Reference Motion Control

“…The sample is immersed inside a water tank and a laser-beam displacement measuring system is used to measure the bending of the IPMC beam. This laser system will be replaced in the near future by the camera system proposed by the authors at [10].…”

“…The advantages of theses systems have been reported. An especial method for measuring the displacement is the usage of camera system [10] able to measure big displacements. In this case, due to resolution, a laser system with high resolution is used.…”

Computer Vision System: Measuring Displacement and Bending Angle of Ionic Polymer-Metal Composites

“…Measuring the displacement of IPMCs entails looking at the tip-to-tip displacement of the composite under various voltage loadings, usually from 1 V to 10 V. Two methods of measuring displacement are generally found in literature: measurement using a camera or using a laser displacement sensor [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. Some studies combine both methods, interchanging them depending on how large the displacement and bending angle is [17].…”

“…A disadvantage to laser displacement sensors is that they can only measure linear tip displacement, which could not accurately map the curved bending response exhibited by IPMCs [5]. Furthermore, laser sensors are also affected by changes in beam refraction, making them unsuitable for uses in underwater or humid conditions as well as on highly-reflective objects [11,12]. Also, depending on the resolution of the sensor used, accuracy may vary.…”

Improving processing time for visual measurements of displacements of IPMC actuators using CUDA

“…The major purpose of work is accurate displacement measurements of an actuator based on IPMC materials as quickly as possible between successive frames extracted from a camera. A similar measuring technique has been proposed from the same authors in a previous work [3] without parallel data processing. The main improvements of method are focused on the reduction of data processing time and on the implementation of a real time system with the possibility of closed loop system application.…”