SCIENCE - Artificial Muscles from Fishing Line

The most powerful artificial muscles have been developed, consisting of line or thread for sewing, offering  100 times more power than a human muscle  of equal length and weight. This unusual patent could be used in prosthetic limbs, robot weightlifters, or even in heavy use exoskeletons.

An international research team, led by Dr. Ray Baughman,  from Texas University  (Dallas), created artificial muscles of twisted coils of fishing line and sewing thread, which constrict or relax when heated by thin power lines embedded in fibers’ strands.

Artificial muscles from line created in various sizes (Source: Texas University, Dallas).

 

Researchers have created various types of muscle, in different sizes. However, the main idea is that they braided nylon fiber or spun yarn and rotated the ends of these yarns until they get the spiral form. This spiral can be used as a rotary engine as it unrolls, offering up to 10,000 rotations per minute. This rotary engine can be easily converted to muscle that contracts and relaxes; by further rotating the yarn end, to form more spirals. If spirals have opposite direction from fiber strands, the muscle contracts instead of extending when heated.

Mechanical strength of a jet engine

These artificial muscles contract up to 50% of its original size, compared to 20% in human muscles. Furthermore, the mechanical strength offered per unit weight is comparable to the power of a jet engine. A plastic muscle with a diameter of one millimeter can lift the weight of 7.2 kg, while a set of 100 such muscles could lift 725kg.

According to Dr. Baughman "The potential applications of these polymer muscles is enormous ". He envisions strong, skillful robots, light and powerful prosthetic limbs, exoskeletons assistantance, or even robots that imitate human expressions through facial artificial muscles. Another possible application of this innovation would be doors and windows opening by themselves, according to ambient temperature.

 

 

Several previous attempts were based either in metal alloys that retain a memory of their original shape, or in extremely durable but expensive carbon nanotubes.

Translated & Edited by Christiana Vellianiti

Source: tovima.gr