Artificial Muscle Fibers for More Realistic Humanoid Robots

Artificial muscles - materials that contract and expand somewhat like muscle fibers do - can have many applications, from robotics to components in the automobile and aviation industries. Now, MIT researchers have come up with one of the simplest and lowest-cost systems yet for developing such 'muscles,' in which a material reproduces some of the bending motions that natural muscle tissues perform. The key ingredient is ordinary nylon fiber.

Transcript

00:00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING] Pulling inspiration from nature is not a new concept for engineers. Specifically, the attempt to mimic or replicate the intricacies of muscles, how they move and bend, extend and contract, and so on, is something researchers have been interested in learning more about for some time now. Artificial muscles can have many applications, from robotics to some components in the automobile and aviation

00:00:29 industries, but they are currently very expensive and limited in their capabilities. However, now, a group of MIT researchers have come up with one of the simplest and lowest cost systems yet, in which a material reproduces some of the bending motions that natural muscle tissues perform regularly. The key ingredient-- nylon fiber. It turns out some polymer fiber materials, including a special type of nylon,

00:00:52 have an unusual property. When heated, they shrink in length but expand in diameter. The researchers found that by modifying the shape of the fiber, and then selectively heating it on one side, they can force the fiber to bend. By heating specific areas of the fiber in sequence, they found they can produce more complex movements. For example, in their lab tests, the team used this technique to get the fibers to move in circles and then in figure 8's.

00:01:20 Various heat sources can be used on the fibers, including electric resistance heating, chemical reactions, or a laser beam that shines on the filament. Someday, the researchers suggest this kind of system could be used to produce a variety of biomedical devices, robotic grippers, or machine components. [MUSIC PLAYING]