Synthetic muscles

Scientists develop artificial muscles from electroactive polymers

3Dtoday based on 3Ders: Researchers create 3D printed robotic muscles using electroactive polymer

A team of scientists from American, Japanese and Korean universities is exploring the possibility of 3D printing flexible robotic devices. In the long term, the researchers hope to apply the developments to create artificial analogues of muscle tissue.

Robots, 3D-printed and not so much, are already able to perform a lot of useful tasks: cleaning, building cars and even discussing the essence of being. But almost all robots have a common characteristic that often limits their capabilities – the rigidity of the structure. While humans are capable of performing all sorts of ingenious movements due to their inherent softness, robots are usually made of rigid, deformation-resistant materials, by definition limiting maneuverability in tight places and flexibility of movement in general. Thus, for the development of more capable robotics, it is necessary to adopt flexible, elastic materials endowed with mechanical functionality.

One of the most important directions in "soft" robotics is the creation of artificial muscles that could find application not only in robotics, but also in advanced prosthetics. So far, the situation with artificial limbs is such that there are many mechanical and bionic analogues that look like real hands, but are incapable of natural movements. Such manipulators are very effective in their own way, but it can be difficult to integrate them into the human body.

Kwang Kim, a professor at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, recently organized a research project aimed at developing realistic robo-muscles capable of revolutionizing prosthetics technologies. To do this, he and his team had to not only choose the right material, but also find ways to control and manufacture. 3D printing was chosen as the production method.

First of all, Kim and his team had to look for a material with sufficient flexibility and strength, but at the same time amenable to external control. There were quite a lot of possible options, but the researchers decided to focus on ionic polymer-metal composites. These synthetic materials are electroactive polymers, that is, they have the ability to change shape under the influence of electrical voltage.

Electroactive polymers have several useful features. Firstly, they can be controlled using electrical impulses, and secondly, they can also be used for feedback, that is, as motion sensors. Finally, they can be printed, which makes it possible to manufacture components of any desired shape. Currently, scientists are working on scaling the 3D printing process and researching new methods of controlling polymer "muscles". Since "soft" robotics remains a very young discipline, the researchers themselves are not sure what they will find. "Every day I learn something new," Kim sums up.

The project is funded by the US National Science Foundation as part of the International Scientific and Educational Cooperation (PIRE) program. Researchers from the Korean Institute of Advanced Science and Technology (KAIST) and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology of Japan (AIST) are participating in the project.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  28.06.2016