Actuator moveable by an electric field and corresponding method

摘要

An ion conducting actuator (100) includes a substrate (101) which is made of a polymer material, and facing electrodes (102,103) for generating an electric field. In the ion conducting actuator (100), a shape of the substrate (101) is deformed to a desired shape by distributing unevenly ions and/or polar molecules in the substrate (101) by applying a voltage between the facing electrodes (102,103). A deformation state is formed by a shape-maintained time t2 for which the shape of the substrate (101) is maintained substantially, and a deformation-start time t1 which is before the shape-maintained time t2, and during which, the shape of the substrate (101) is deformed from an arbitrary shape to a desired shape. A drive voltage V (202) applied to the ion conducting actuator (100) differs during the shape-maintained time t2, and during the deformation-start time t1.