Department of Robotics and Mechatronics, Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, Daejeon, Korea.
Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Korea.
Soft Robot. 2020 Jun;7(3):321-331. doi: 10.1089/soro.2018.0107. Epub 2019 Nov 14.
Fabric muscle is important for wearable robots that are soft, compliant, and silent with high contractility and high force. This study presents a novel shape memory alloy (SMA) spring-based fabric muscle (SFM). The SFM is manufactured by bundling SMA springs with proven performance as artificial muscle. The SFM generates high contractility and high force, and is soft, flexible, and light because it is covered with fabric used to make actual clothes. The SFM is contracted by heat and shows a contraction strain of 50% at a heating temperature of 70°C while generating 100 N force or higher. Furthermore, it generates a maximum contraction strain of 67% under no load. To drive it with the optimum voltage and current, the SFM is designed by optimizing the serial and parallel connection methods for the embedded SMA springs. We propose herein design and manufacturing methods for the SFM and verify the usability of the SFM as a soft actuator through a performance evaluation. The SFM as a soft actuator with a simple structure-like fabric is easily applicable to soft wearable robots that can support muscle power by simply being attached to usual suits. The SFM has a soft touch, and is lightweight; hence, it has the potential for wide applications to new-concept soft wearable robots that can be comfortably worn anytime and anywhere like usual clothes.
织物肌肉对于柔软、柔顺、静音、高收缩性和高力量的可穿戴机器人非常重要。本研究提出了一种新型形状记忆合金（SMA）弹簧织物肌肉（SFM）。SFM 通过捆绑具有已证明的人工肌肉性能的 SMA 弹簧制造而成。SFM 产生高收缩性和高力量，并且由于它覆盖有用于制作实际衣服的织物，因此柔软、灵活且轻便。SFM 通过加热收缩，在加热温度为 70°C 时产生 100N 或更高的力，收缩应变达到 50%。此外，在无负载的情况下，它产生最大收缩应变 67%。为了用最佳电压和电流驱动它，通过优化嵌入 SMA 弹簧的串联和并联连接方法来设计 SFM。我们在此提出了 SFM 的设计和制造方法，并通过性能评估验证了 SFM 作为软致动器的可用性。SFM 作为一种具有类似织物的简单结构的软致动器，可以通过简单地附着在通常的套装上来轻松应用于能够通过肌肉力量支持的柔软可穿戴机器人。SFM 触感柔软，重量轻；因此，它有可能广泛应用于新概念的柔软可穿戴机器人，这些机器人可以像通常的衣服一样随时随地舒适地穿着。
