Bioinspired helical-artificial fibrous muscle structured tubular soft actuators

Abstract

Biological tubular actuators show diverse deformations, which allow for sophisticated deformations with well-defined degrees of freedom (DOF). Nonetheless, synthetic active tubular soft actuators largely only exhibit few simple deformations with limited and undesignable DOF. Inspired by 3D fibrous architectures of tubular muscular hydrostats, we devised conceptually new helical-artificial fibrous muscle structured tubular soft actuators (HAFMS-TSAs) with locally tunable molecular orientations, materials, mechanics, and actuation via a modular fabrication platform using a programmable filament winding technique. Unprecedentedly, HAFMS-TSAs can be endowed with 11 different morphing modes through programmable regulation of their 3D helical fibrous architectures. We demonstrate a single “living” artificial plant rationally structured by HAFMS-TSAs exhibiting diverse photoresponsive behaviors that enable adaptive omnidirectional reorientation of its hierarchical 3D structures in the response to environmental irradiation, resembling morphing intelligence of living plants in reacting to changing environments. Our methodology would be significantly beneficial for developing sophisticated soft actuators with designable and tunable DOF.

Perception-Actuation Integrated Artificial Muscle Fibers: From Structural Design to Applications

“…Despite the fact that coiled structures perform as performance “amplifiers”, their complex preparation process limits the development of functional integration and continuous mass preparation. To address the above challenges, we believe that traditional wet/dry spinning is still one of the best choices that can achieve the continuous preparation of functionally integrated linear artificial muscle fibers driven by changes in molecular chain orientation (such as LCEs, − a material with superior deformation properties that has attracted much attention recently) through an ingenious coaxial structure. The prepared linear fibers will avoid the limitations of the coiled structure with respect to the functional integration as well as the mutual interference between multiperception and self-sensing signals by stacking the layers of the coaxial structure.…”

Multifunctional flexible magnetic drive gripper for target manipulation in complex constrained environments

“…[1][2][3] However, the precise manipulation of targets within complex constrained spaces remains a challenge, especially as the tool needs to reduce damage to the working environment, such as human tissue. Actuators that can perform end operations under the condition of overall flexibility are expected to solve abovementioned problems, and the working principles of actuators include electric driven, [4][5][6] fluid driven, [7][8][9] light driven, 10,11 tendon driven, 12,13 and magnetic field driven. [14][15][16][17] Magnetic field driven actuation has the advantages of bio-safety, penetration of opaque objects, and remote control, and has become a research hotspot for precise operations in complex constrained spaces.…”

“…1–3 However, the precise manipulation of targets within complex constrained spaces remains a challenge, especially as the tool needs to reduce damage to the working environment, such as human tissue. Actuators that can perform end operations under the condition of overall flexibility are expected to solve abovementioned problems, and the working principles of actuators include electric driven, 4–6 fluid driven, 7–9 light driven, 10,11 tendon driven, 12,13 and magnetic field driven. 14–17…”

Flexible Actuators with Hygroscopic Adaptability for Smart Wearables and Soft Grippers

“…Flexible actuators based on the various adaptive mechanical responses of organisms to external stimuli in nature are desirable. Creating flexible actuators that exhibit controllable and programmable shape transformations in response to environmental stimuli would enable broad scientific and engineering applications, such as flexible robots, − biomedical devices, − and smart wearable devices. − Although magnetically driven flexible electronic devices − have the advantage of rapid and fatigue-resistant actuation, their large size and fixed stiffness restrict their ability to undergo large-scale deformation; pneumatically driven actuators − based on silicone elastomers and rubber have high degrees of freedom and superior power density, but there is still a challenge in balancing manufacturing cost with precise control; carbon-based electrothermal or photothermal actuators exhibit significant deformation under electrical or optical stimulation, − which are primarily driven by the difference in thermal expansion of the bilayer structure. However, these actuators are limited to thermal expansion and increasing their deformation further is difficult.…”