Flexible body and method for controlling flexible body to deform

#The present application is a Section 371 National Stage Application of International Application No. PCT/CN2019/108738, filed Sep. 27, 2019, entitled “FLEXIBLE BODY AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING FLEXIBLE BODY TO DEFORM”, which claims a priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201910001040.0, filed on Jan. 2, 2019, with a title of “Flexible body and method for controlling flexible body to deform”, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.

#The present application relates to a flexible body and a method for controlling the flexible body to deform.

#In recent years, artificial intelligence becomes a focus of science and technology worldwide. Various new robots based on the artificial intelligence technology are developed continuously and widely used in industrial production and daily life. In order to realize a function of walking or local deformation, current robots and other similar electrical devices generally need to use an artificial muscle, and thus a motor or a hydraulic system is required for control. However, the motor or hydraulic system will cause the whole system to be relatively cumbersome, thereby limiting the flexibility, strength and overall working performance.

#FIG. 1 shows a schematic partial section view of a flexible unit of a flexible body according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

#FIG. 2 shows a schematic partial section view of a flexible unit of a flexible body according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

#FIG. 3 shows a schematic partial section view of a flexible unit of a flexible body according to still another embodiment of the present disclosure;

#Particular embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below by way of examples. It should be understood that the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to examples set forth below. Those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments by making use of the principle or spirit of the present disclosure to obtain other embodiments in different forms which obviously fall within the scope of the present application.

#FIG. 1 is a schematic partial section view of an example structure of a flexible unit 100 of a flexible body according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Here, the flexible unit 100 comprises a first electrode 11, a second electrode 12, an electroactive polymer layer 13, and a thin film transistor (T), wherein a source electrode (s) or a drain electrode (d) of the thin film transistor (T) is electrically connected to the second electrode 12. The first electrode 11 and the second electrode 12 are configured to provide an electric field acting on the electroactive polymer layer 13, and the electroactive polymer layer 13 is configured to deform in response to the electric field provided by the first electrode 11 and the second electrode 12.

#For the flexible body provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the electroactive polymer layer thereof may deform under the action of the electric field provided by the first electrode and the second electrode, and the above-mentioned electric field may be generated by applying an external voltage to the first electrode and the second electrode and be controlled by the external voltage and the thin film transistor. For example, external voltages with different waveforms can generate electric fields in different directions or with different intensities between the first electrode and the second electrode. In addition, average amplitude of the external voltage can be modulated by controlling the “On” or “Off” state of the thin film transistor, thereby allowing the flexible unit to deform as desired, such as to expand or shrink. Therefore, such a flexible body has a wide variety of application scenarios. For example, the flexible body can be applied in a robot as a constituent structure of an artificial muscle. At this time, flexible stretching and shrinkage of the artificial muscle can be achieved without any motor or hydraulic system. Therefore, the application of the flexible body can greatly simplify the structure of the artificial muscle and its control system, and enhance the stretching and shrinkage flexibility of the artificial muscle, thereby improving the overall performance of the robot. Similarly, such a flexible body can also be used in an artificial limb to improve the flexibility or convenience when user walks or moves. It can be understood from the above discussion that the expanding process of the flexible body is actually a process to convert an electric energy to a mechanical energy. The mechanical energy has a relatively low intensity and a mild release process, and the expanding process can provide a mild impact force to an external object. Therefore, the flexible body can also be applied in any circumstance in need of such a mild impact force, including, but not limited to, an electrical massage chair, a transmitter, and so on.