Electroactive polymer animated devices

An animated face comprising:

• a facial feature capable of motion between a first position and a second position;
• a transducer either included in the facial feature or coupled to the facial feature and configured to provide at least a portion of the motion between the first position and the second position for the facial feature, the transducer comprising an active area, which includes at least two electrodes coupled to a portion of an electroactive polymer, the portion capable of deflection in response to a change in electric field provided by the at least two electrodes;
• and
• wherein the polymer has an elastic modulus below about 100 MPa.

An animated toy comprising:

• a feature capable of motion between a first position and a second position;
• a transducer either included in the feature or coupled to the feature and configured to provide at least a portion of the motion between the first position and the second position for the feature, the transducer comprising an active area, which includes at least two electrodes coupled to a portion of an electroactive polymer, the portion capable of deflection in response to a change in electric field provided by the at least two electrodes;
• and
• wherein the polymer has an elastic modulus below about 100 MPa and the polymer is pre-strained by a factor in the range of about 1.5 times to 50 times its original area.

An animated skin comprising:

• a feature capable of motion between a first position and a second position;
• a transducer either included in the skin or coupled to the skin and configured to provide at least a portion of the motion between the first position and the second position for the feature, the transducer comprising an active area, which includes at least two electrodes coupled to a portion of an electroactive polymer, the portion capable of deflection in response to a change in electric field provided by the at least two electrodes;
• and
• wherein the polymer has an elastic modulus below about 100 MPa.

An animated device capable of surface based locomotion, the animated device comprising:

• a feature capable of motion between a first position and a second position;
• a transducer either included in the feature or coupled to the feature and configured to provide at least a portion of the motion between the first position and the second position for the feature, the transducer comprising an active area, which includes at least two electrodes coupled to a portion of an electroactive polymer, the portion capable of deflection in response to a change in electric field provided by the at least two electrodes, wherein the polymer has an elastic modulus below about 100 MPa;
• and
• wherein the device is configured such that motion between the first position and the second position for the feature provides at least a portion of the surface based locomotion.

An animated device having likeness of a human, the animated device comprising:

• a feature capable of motion between a first position and a second position;
• a transducer either included in the feature or coupled to the feature and configured to provide at least a portion of the motion between the first position and the second position for the feature, the transducer comprising an active area, which includes at least two electrodes coupled to a portion of an electroactive polymer, the portion capable of deflection in response to a change in electric field provided by at least two electrodes, wherein the polymer has an elastic modulus below about 100 Mpa;
• and
• wherein the feature has a human likeness.