Artificial Muscle Actuator to Provide Pulling Force and Electrical Signal with Pressurized Liquid Metal

Abstract

Recently, soft robots have attracted interest of researchers. The advantages of the soft robots are the flexibility and simplicity of the structure. However, in order to implement complex motions with the robots, sensors and wires are required to measure the condition of the robots. In this study, we propose a method to actuate soft robots with pressurized liquid metal. The method enables the robots to provide both electrical signal and force. We prototyped a McKibben artificial muscle actuator and evaluated the mechanical properties and electrical properties to verify the proposed concept.