IPMC Actuators Non integer Order Models

In this chapter a new model for Ionic Polymer Metal Composites (IPMC) actuators, based on non-integer order models is proposed. IPMCs are very interesting polymer because of their capability to transform electrical energy into mechanical energy and vice-versa, making them particularly attractive for possible applications in different fields, such as robotics, aerospace, biomedicine, etc. An experimental setup has been realized to study the IPMCs behavior and an algorithm has been developed in Matlab environment in order to identify a fractional order model of IPMC actuators.