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Strip actuators have attracted tremendous attention in bionics due to the controllable deformation under various stimuli. However, it is currently hard to compare their performance owing to the different approaches for evaluating their actuation. Most of the studies determine the maximum or average value of the bending angle or strain, the deformation profile of the entire actuator strip was not quantified. In this study, a versatile method was proposed to evaluate the bending profile of typical strip actuators with bending deformation, thus analyzing the actuation performance. This method has been verified by synthetic curves, and less than 2% of global error was found. We have also demonstrated the implementation of this method for examining the actuation of typical strip actuators and showed that it can also be used for comparing the performance of different actuators prepared from other studies.

Strip actuators have attracted tremendous attention in bionics due to the controllable deformation under various stimuli. However, it is currently hard to compare their performance owing to the different approaches for evaluating their actuation. Most of the studies determine the maximum or average value of the bending angle or strain, the deformation profile of the entire actuator strip was not quantified. In this study, a versatile method was proposed to evaluate the bending profile of typical strip actuators with bending deformation, thus analyzing the actuation performance. This method has been verified by synthetic curves, and less than 2% of global error was found. We have also demonstrated the implementation of this method for examining the actuation of typical strip actuators and showed that it can also be used for comparing the performance of different actuators prepared from other studies. • The curvature distribution and average curvature of strip polymer actuators were evaluated through a consistent method. • The actuation performance, and the major factors affecting the performances of the actuators were assessed and discussed. • This method allows a comparative analysis among the same type of actuator, which is crucial for development and improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]