Child soothing devices comprising artificial muscles

A method for actuating a child soothing device, the method comprising:

• providing a voltage using a power supply electrically coupled to an electrode pair of an artificial muscle, the artificial muscle disposed between an inner layer and an outer layer of a soothing structure of the child soothing device, wherein:
• the artificial muscle comprises a housing having an electrode region and an expandable fluid region;
• the electrode pair is positioned in the electrode region of the housing;
• the electrode pair comprises a first electrode and a second electrode;
• a dielectric fluid is housed within the housing;
• and
• a pressure sensor is affixed to the housing and communicatively coupled to a controller;
• applying the voltage to the electrode pair of the artificial muscle, thereby actuating the electrode pair such that the dielectric fluid is directed into the expandable fluid region of the housing and expands the expandable fluid region, thereby applying pressure to the inner layer of the soothing structure;
• and
• receiving heartbeat data from a sensor device pertaining to a user wearing the sensor device, wherein the heartbeat data is used to reproduce a heartbeat of the user wearing the sensor device via actuation and de-actuation of the artificial muscle.

A child soothing system comprising:

• a child soothing device comprising:
• a soothing structure comprising an outer layer and an inner layer;
• network interface hardware communicatively coupled to a sensor device and configured to receive heartbeat data from the sensor device pertaining to a user wearing the sensor device;
• one or more artificial muscles disposed between the inner layer and the outer layer of the soothing structure and communicatively coupled to a controller, wherein each of the one or more artificial muscles comprise:
• a housing comprising an electrode region and an expandable fluid region;
• a dielectric fluid housed within the housing;
• and
• an electrode pair positioned in the electrode region of the housing, the electrode pair comprising a first electrode and a second electrode, wherein the electrode pair is actuatable between a non-actuated state and an actuated state such that actuation from the non-actuated state to the actuated state directs the dielectric fluid into the expandable fluid region, expanding the expandable fluid region, thereby applying pressure to the inner layer of the soothing structure, and wherein the heartbeat data is configured to be utilized to reproduce a heartbeat of a user via actuation and de-actuation of the artificial muscle;
• and
• the sensor device, communicatively coupled to the child soothing device, the sensor device configured to:
• detect the heartbeat of the user;
• and
• provide the heartbeat data corresponding to the user to the child soothing device.