actuators tagged posts

Unusual property of the ultrastrong material could be harnessed for twisting or pulling motions. Researchers have found that spider silk produces a strong twisting motion when exposed to humidity, and may be usable for future artificial muscles or actuators. Spider silk, already known as one of the strongest materials for its weight, turns out to have another unusual property that might lead to new kinds of artificial muscles or robotic actuators, researchers have found.

The resilient fibers, the team discovered, respond very strongly to ...

VAMPs are shown actuated and cut open in cross section. The cross section shows the inner chambers that collapse when vacuum is applied. Credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard University

To make robots more cooperative and have them perform tasks in close proximity to humans, they must be softer and safer. A new actuator generates movements similar to those of skeletal muscles using vacuum power to automate soft, rubber beams. Like real muscles, the actuators are soft, shock absorbing, and pose no danger to their environment or humans working collaboratively alongside them or the potential future robots equipped with them.

“Functionally, our actuator models the human bicep muscle,” said Whitesides, Director of the Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology at Harvard University...