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Variable Stiffness Woven Soft Active Textiles and Robots Using Thin McKibben Muscle.

Haili Li1, Bin Li1, Pan Zhou2

  • 1Ningbo Key Laboratory of Micro-nano Motion and Intelligent Control, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China.

Soft Robotics
|September 18, 2025
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers developed novel variable stiffness soft robots using a Chinese knot-inspired weaving technique with McKibben muscles. These robots exhibit enhanced stiffness control and impressive performance in movement and object manipulation.

Keywords:
active woven structurecontinuum robotsoft crawling robotsoft enclosed grippervariable stiffness

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Area of Science:

  • Robotics
  • Materials Science
  • Textile Engineering

Background:

  • Active woven structures are crucial for soft robotics, offering compliance and programmability.
  • Current weaving methods face challenges in fabricating intricate variable stiffness soft robots.
  • Existing applications focus on actuators and sensors, not complex robotic systems.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop a novel weaving method for creating variable stiffness soft robots inspired by Chinese knot techniques.
  • To integrate thin McKibben muscles into woven structures for tunable stiffness.
  • To demonstrate the fabrication and performance of diverse soft robotic components and systems.

Main Methods:

  • Inspired by Chinese knotting, a weaving technique was employed using thin McKibben muscles.
  • Developed variable stiffness textiles including flexible spine, skin, and bistable structures.
  • Fabricated soft robots: crawling robot, enclosed gripper, and continuum module.

Main Results:

  • Achieved a variable stiffness range exceeding 5.4 times the initial stiffness.
  • Woven soft crawling robot demonstrated omnidirectional movement at 666.7 mm/min.
  • Soft gripper lifted up to 14.7 kg, with stiffness enhancing bearing capacity by 3.3 times.
  • Continuum module reduced external force impact by over 65% in high stiffness mode.

Conclusions:

  • The novel weaving method successfully created diverse variable stiffness soft robots and components.
  • The developed robots show significant improvements in stiffness control, movement, and load-bearing capacity.
  • This study provides new configurations and ideas for advancing complex variable stiffness soft robots using weaving technology.