Braille displays IPMC actuators

Finally, a soft and smart device is fabricated by integrating the IPMC actuator with control and senor units. Recently, organic transistor control and sensor technologies have been developed. Hence, all organic, flexible electromechanical devices can be constructed using the IPMC and an organic transistor. In this chapter, such an example is described as a sheet-type Braille display. 

Figure 6.9 Images of a Braille display (a) the flexible Braille sheet display using IPMC actuator array (b) the device assembly (c) circuit diagram of the Braille sheet display (Reprinted with permission from Kato, Y., Sekitani, T., Takamiya, M. et al. Sheet-Type Braille Displays by Integrating Organic Field-Effect Transistors and Polymeric Actuators, IEEE Trans on Electron. Devices, 54 (2), 202-9. Copyright (2007) IEEE).

This result shows that the generating force and the displacement of this device are sufficient to facilitate reading by the visually impaired. Further, it demonstrates the feasibility of this design, which integrates organic transistors and the IPMC actuators, for realizing Braille sheet displays. 

IPMC actuators are soft, flexible, and low drive voltage. Henee, they are very safe for humans. In addition, they are easy to deform in any shape and to miniaturize. Thanks to these advantages, many researchers have tried to apply them to many biomedical applications. In this section, applications of IPMC actuators to biomedical applications such as micro-catheter, micro-pump, and human-affinity tactile devices such as Braille displays are reviewed. 

Fig. 3 Sheet-type Braille display based on the IPMC actuators (a) photograph of the Braille display, (b) photograph of one Braille cell eomposed of six dots attached with IPMC actuator films, (c) a cross-sectional illustration of one Braille dot The IPMC actuator is driven by an organic transistor. (Reproduced irom Kato et al. 2007)...

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