I. INTRODUCTION
HE versatility of muscles is a crucial factor for efficient animal locomotion. In combination with a high degree of force control muscles enable precise motions depending on the wanted action. Animal locomotion involves (a) fine motor skills like sneaking, grabbing and communication; (b) quick short term acceleration like catching prey; (c) very long-term movement patterns which need to be performed efficient like digesting, migration and sometimes even (d) avoiding motion by tensing the body.(Campbell and Reece, 2005)
These motions are caused by different types of muscles such as smooth, skeletal and cardiac muscles which are arranged in in various different fibrous shapes. Nevertheless they all are based on the same microstructure …show more content…
However they both require an external pump as driving force which takes up extra space and increases design complexity for robotic applications. This Review will explore the performance of recent supercoiled torsional actuators as novel and simplistic artificial muscles in robotics.
II. WORKING PRINCIPLE
Coiled actuators are twisted fibers that amplify tensile actuation via their hierarchical structured geometry.
Comparable to spring mechanics they store energy on different levels. The increase in fiber volume leads to an untwist of the coiled fiber which contributes to the actuation strain (Figure 1). This effect can be amplified by using a supercoiled structure (introducing a secondary coil by winding a primary coiled wire) (Figure 2). (Cherubini et al.,
2015; Foroughi et al., 2011; Haines et al., 2014a; Lee et al.,
2014; Lima et al., 2012; S. -W. Kim, 2015)
Figure 1: Volume increase generates torque in the coiled fiber which causes muscle expansion (left) or contraction (right);
Figure adapted from (Haines et al., 2014a).
COILED TORSIONAL ACTUATORS AS
ARTIFICIAL MUSCLES FOR BIOMIMETIC
ROBOTIC APPLICATIONS
Sebastian Bangel, MSc. Bionics/Biomimetics, 10877
T
Figure 2: (Up) Primary coiled and (Down) secondary
HE versatility of muscles is a crucial factor for efficient animal locomotion. In combination with a high degree of force control muscles enable precise motions depending on the wanted action. Animal locomotion involves (a) fine motor skills like sneaking, grabbing and communication; (b) quick short term acceleration like catching prey; (c) very long-term movement patterns which need to be performed efficient like digesting, migration and sometimes even (d) avoiding motion by tensing the body.(Campbell and Reece, 2005)
These motions are caused by different types of muscles such as smooth, skeletal and cardiac muscles which are arranged in in various different fibrous shapes. Nevertheless they all are based on the same microstructure …show more content…
However they both require an external pump as driving force which takes up extra space and increases design complexity for robotic applications. This Review will explore the performance of recent supercoiled torsional actuators as novel and simplistic artificial muscles in robotics.
II. WORKING PRINCIPLE
Coiled actuators are twisted fibers that amplify tensile actuation via their hierarchical structured geometry.
Comparable to spring mechanics they store energy on different levels. The increase in fiber volume leads to an untwist of the coiled fiber which contributes to the actuation strain (Figure 1). This effect can be amplified by using a supercoiled structure (introducing a secondary coil by winding a primary coiled wire) (Figure 2). (Cherubini et al.,
2015; Foroughi et al., 2011; Haines et al., 2014a; Lee et al.,
2014; Lima et al., 2012; S. -W. Kim, 2015)
Figure 1: Volume increase generates torque in the coiled fiber which causes muscle expansion (left) or contraction (right);
Figure adapted from (Haines et al., 2014a).
COILED TORSIONAL ACTUATORS AS
ARTIFICIAL MUSCLES FOR BIOMIMETIC
ROBOTIC APPLICATIONS
Sebastian Bangel, MSc. Bionics/Biomimetics, 10877
T
Figure 2: (Up) Primary coiled and (Down) secondary