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Fiber embroidery of self-sensing soft actuators

Cornell Affiliated Author(s)

Author

S. Ceron
Itai Cohen
R.F. Shepherd
J.H. Pikul
C. Harnett

Abstract

Natural organisms use a combination of contracting muscles and inextensible fibers to transform into controllable shapes, camouflage into their surrounding environment, and catch prey. Replicating these capabilities with engineered materials is challenging because of the difficulty inmanufacturing and controlling soft material actuators with embedded fibers. In addition, while linear and bending motions are common in soft actuators, rotary motions require three-dimensional fiber wrapping or multiple bending or linear elements working in coordination that are challenging to design and fabricate. In this work, an automatic embroidery machine patterned Kevlar™ fibers and stretchable optical fibers into inflatable silicone membranes to control their inflated shape and enable sensing. This embroidery-based fabrication technique is simple, low cost, and allows for precise and custom patterning of fibers in elastomers. Using this technique, we developed inflatable elastomeric actuators embedded with a planar spiral pattern of high-strength Kevlar™ fibers that inflate into radially symmetric shapes and achieve nearly 180° angular rotation and 10 cm linear displacement. © 2018 by the authors.

Date Published

Journal

Biomimetics

Volume

3

Issue

3

URL

https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85058986882&doi=10.3390%2fbiomimetics3030024&partnerID=40&md5=93c3d6fe4873c6b6bee63dca81b6aec4

DOI

10.3390/biomimetics3030024

Group (Lab)

Itai Cohen Group

Funding Source

FA9550-18-1-0243
KSEF-3503- RDE-019

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