Fundamental Study of Soft Actuator Using Anisotropic Gel Hybridized with Nanosheet Liquid Crystal: Analysis of Heat Characteristics and Length Control

The fundamental heat characteristics of a gel actuator that uses nanosheet liquid crystals are studied. Owing to the structural anisotropy of nanosheets, the gel actuator exhibits anisotropic thermo-induced deformation, which makes it possible for the gel actuator to be applied to new materials for molecular robotics. As a fundamental study for the development, a relationship between the contraction length of the gel actuator and water temperature is investigated, and the mapping between them is obtained. Furthermore, using the mapping, fundamental controller methods are proposed to control the contraction length of the gel actuator. Controller performances are assessed through experimental results.