Active Textile Braided in Three Strands with Thin McKibben Muscle

Area of Science:

• Robotics
• Materials Science
• Textile Engineering

Background:

• Soft robotic actuators are crucial for advancements in wearable and musculoskeletal robotics.
• Traditional actuators often lack the flexibility, lightweight properties, and ease of integration required for seamless human-robot interaction.
• McKibben artificial muscles offer a promising solution due to their inherent compliance and biomimetic actuation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a novel active textile fabricated using thin McKibben muscle strands.
• To introduce a unique braiding method for creating a textile that shrinks transversely.
• To investigate the design, static characteristics, and theoretical models of this active textile for robotic applications.

Main Methods:

• Development of a unique three-strand braiding technique using thin McKibben muscles.
• Fabrication of an active textile actuator.
• Proposal and derivation of theoretical models for the active textile.
• Experimental evaluation of static characteristics using various design parameters.

Main Results:

• The developed active textile exhibits shrinkage along the transverse surface direction.
• Theoretical models accurately predict the textile's static characteristics.
• Experimental results confirm that the braided active textiles achieve a greater contraction ratio compared to single muscle strands.
• The textile actuator is lightweight, flexible, and easily integrated into robotic structures.

Conclusions:

• The novel active textile, constructed via a unique braiding method with McKibben muscles, functions as an effective soft robotic actuator.
• The proposed theoretical models provide a reliable framework for understanding and predicting the behavior of these active textiles.
• The braided muscle textile demonstrates superior contraction capabilities, making it highly suitable for advanced applications in wearable and musculoskeletal robotics.