Host: The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
Name : [in Japanese]
Date : September 13, 2020 - September 16, 2020
Pneumatic rubber artificial muscles are composed of a rubber tube and fibers and have features such as lightweight, shape adaptability, and high power-weight ratio. Therefore, artificial muscles have been used in devices used around humans. The developed artificial muscles are fabricated by using Shape Memory Polymer (SMP) fibers and they can change their drive form after fabrication. Previously in our laboratory, the SMP fibers were fabricated by cast molding and there were restrictions such as workable time and mold size in the procedure. Therefore, in this paper, a continuous fabricating process is established using solution type SMP. In the process, cotton fibers are dipped in SMP solution and it is passed between two rollers which make the surface of fibers smooth and penetrate SMP solution in the fiber. The SMP solution is cured in a drying furnace. The fibers are pulled and rolled around a bobbin continuously by a motor. As a result, we successfully developed the fibers that satisfies the conditions.
The McKibben artificial muscle and the Straight Fiber type artificial muscle with SMP fiber are fabricated by using a braiding machine. These artificial muscles realized different driving by changing the initial shape.
