TY - JOUR
T1 - A Novel Soft Actuator for the Musculoskeletal System
AU - Wu, Lianjun
AU - Chauhan, Indrajeet
AU - Tadesse, Yonas
N1 - Enter your email address below. If your address has been previously registered, you will receive an email with instructions on how to reset your password. If you don't receive an email, you should register as a new user
PY - 2018/5
Y1 - 2018/5
N2 - The musculoskeletal system (MS) is essential for the movements of biological systems. Inspired by this natural structure, several attempts are made to create a synthetic MS. However, one of the challenges in developing an artificial MS for biomimetic robots is the lack of a high‐performance, low‐cost, light‐weight, and compact artificial muscle. In this Communication, a novel twisted and coiled artificial muscle is demonstrated, which is a promising actuator for the development of the artificial MS. The new muscle is made by twisting a nylon 6 fishing line precursor fiber and wrapping with a very thin (80 µm diameter) resistance wire. The resistance wire is not twisted during twist insertion of the polymer, which is very important for the performance of the muscle. The new muscle termed TCP^FL/NC is integrated in a 3D printed ball‐and‐socket‐based artificial MS. Characterization results show a remarkable tensile actuation (53% strain provided at 1.69 MPa for an input current of 0.22 A). Furthermore, a bioinspired design and fabrication of the synthetic MS is illustrated incorporating antagonistic pairs capable of reaching a bending angle of 20° within 1 s. These actuators can potentially be used in other soft robots, prosthetics, and orthotics advancing the progress in the area.
AB - The musculoskeletal system (MS) is essential for the movements of biological systems. Inspired by this natural structure, several attempts are made to create a synthetic MS. However, one of the challenges in developing an artificial MS for biomimetic robots is the lack of a high‐performance, low‐cost, light‐weight, and compact artificial muscle. In this Communication, a novel twisted and coiled artificial muscle is demonstrated, which is a promising actuator for the development of the artificial MS. The new muscle is made by twisting a nylon 6 fishing line precursor fiber and wrapping with a very thin (80 µm diameter) resistance wire. The resistance wire is not twisted during twist insertion of the polymer, which is very important for the performance of the muscle. The new muscle termed TCP^FL/NC is integrated in a 3D printed ball‐and‐socket‐based artificial MS. Characterization results show a remarkable tensile actuation (53% strain provided at 1.69 MPa for an input current of 0.22 A). Furthermore, a bioinspired design and fabrication of the synthetic MS is illustrated incorporating antagonistic pairs capable of reaching a bending angle of 20° within 1 s. These actuators can potentially be used in other soft robots, prosthetics, and orthotics advancing the progress in the area.
KW - Musculoskeletal system
KW - Novel
KW - Soft actuator
UR - https://doi.org/10.1002/admt.201700359
U2 - 10.1002/admt.201700359
DO - 10.1002/admt.201700359
M3 - Article
SN - 2365-709X
VL - 3
JO - Advanced Materials Technologies
JF - Advanced Materials Technologies
ER -