Evaluation of Flexural Durability of High Strength Textile for Robotic Applications

-Part 2: Design of Heavy Load Repeated Bending Apparatus and Bending Test-

Abstract

Textile is soft, adaptable to shape, elastic, and lighter than metal. Taking advantage of these characteristics, textile is used as a material for soft robots. The authors thought that by using a cloth made of high-strength fibers, it would be possible to create a robot that takes advantage of its strength and durability in addition to its flexibility. As the first step to use textile as a mechanical component of a robot, this paper proposed a new evaluation method and a method to implement a testing machine. This paper also conducted strength and durability tests of high-strength textile using the testing machine.