Wenhui Chen, Dezhong Tong, Linghan Meng, Bowen Tan, Ruochen Lan, Qifeng Zhang, Huai Yang, Cong Wang, Ke Liu
Muscles featuring high frequency and high stroke linear actuation are essential for animals to achieve superior maneuverability, agility, and environmental adaptability. Artificial muscles are yet to match their biological counterparts, due to inferior actuation speed, magnitude, mode, or adaptability. Inspired by the hierarchical structure of natural muscles, we create artificial muscles that are powerful, responsive, robust, and adaptable. The artificial muscles consist of knots braided from 3D printed liquid crystal elastomer fibers and thin heating threads...
April 20, 2024: Advanced Materials