Active fabrics with controllable stiffness for robotic assistive interfaces
Assistive interfaces enable collaborative interactions between humans and robots. In contrast to traditional rigid devices, conformable fabrics with tunable mechanical properties have emerged as compelling alternatives. However, existing assistive fabrics actuated by fluidic or thermal stimuli strug...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2024
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/178953 |
| _version_ | 1826120992406110208 |
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| author | Yang, Xudong Chen, Yu Chen, Tianyu Li, Junwei Wang, Yifan |
| author2 | School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering |
| author_facet | School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Yang, Xudong Chen, Yu Chen, Tianyu Li, Junwei Wang, Yifan |
| author_sort | Yang, Xudong |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Assistive interfaces enable collaborative interactions between humans and robots. In contrast to traditional rigid devices, conformable fabrics with tunable mechanical properties have emerged as compelling alternatives. However, existing assistive fabrics actuated by fluidic or thermal stimuli struggle to adapt to complex body contours and are hindered by challenges such as large volumes after actuation and slow response rates. To overcome these limitations, inspiration is drawn from biological protective organisms combining hard and soft phases, and active assistive fabrics consisting of architectured rigid tiles interconnected with flexible actuated fibers are proposed. Through programmable tessellation of target body shapes into architectured tiles and controlling their interactions by the actuated fibers, the active fabrics can rapidly transition between soft compliant configurations and rigid states conformable to the body (>350 times stiffness change) while minimizing the device volume after actuation. The versatility of these active fabrics is demonstrated as exosuits for tremor suppression and lifting assistance, as body armors for impact mitigation, and integration with electrothermal actuators for smart actuation with convenient folding capabilities. This work offers a practical framework for designing customizable active fabrics with shape adaptivity and controllable stiffness, suitable for applications in wearable exosuits, haptic devices, and medical rehabilitation systems. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T05:25:29Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/178953 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T05:25:29Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1789532024-07-13T16:48:17Z Active fabrics with controllable stiffness for robotic assistive interfaces Yang, Xudong Chen, Yu Chen, Tianyu Li, Junwei Wang, Yifan School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Engineering Architectured materials Soft robot Assistive interfaces enable collaborative interactions between humans and robots. In contrast to traditional rigid devices, conformable fabrics with tunable mechanical properties have emerged as compelling alternatives. However, existing assistive fabrics actuated by fluidic or thermal stimuli struggle to adapt to complex body contours and are hindered by challenges such as large volumes after actuation and slow response rates. To overcome these limitations, inspiration is drawn from biological protective organisms combining hard and soft phases, and active assistive fabrics consisting of architectured rigid tiles interconnected with flexible actuated fibers are proposed. Through programmable tessellation of target body shapes into architectured tiles and controlling their interactions by the actuated fibers, the active fabrics can rapidly transition between soft compliant configurations and rigid states conformable to the body (>350 times stiffness change) while minimizing the device volume after actuation. The versatility of these active fabrics is demonstrated as exosuits for tremor suppression and lifting assistance, as body armors for impact mitigation, and integration with electrothermal actuators for smart actuation with convenient folding capabilities. This work offers a practical framework for designing customizable active fabrics with shape adaptivity and controllable stiffness, suitable for applications in wearable exosuits, haptic devices, and medical rehabilitation systems. Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Ministry of Education (MOE) Ministry of Health (MOH) Nanyang Technological University Submitted/Accepted version This research was supported by A*STAR Singapore through RIE2025 MTCIRG award (M21K2c0118) and RIE2020 AME YIRG award (A2084c0162),Singapore MOH MOH-001184-01 Award, MOE Tier-2 Award MOE-T2EP50123-0015, and the NAP award (020482) from the Nanyang Tech-nological University. 2024-07-12T01:50:56Z 2024-07-12T01:50:56Z 2024 Journal Article Yang, X., Chen, Y., Chen, T., Li, J. & Wang, Y. (2024). Active fabrics with controllable stiffness for robotic assistive interfaces. Advanced Materials. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adma.202404502 0935-9648 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/178953 10.1002/adma.202404502 38822632 2-s2.0-85195297426 en RIE2025 MTC IGR M21K2c0118 RIE2020 A2084c0162 MOH-001184-01 MOE-T2EP50123-0015 NAP (020482) Advanced Materials © 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH. All rights reserved. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the copyright holder. The Version of Record is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adma.202404502. application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Engineering Architectured materials Soft robot Yang, Xudong Chen, Yu Chen, Tianyu Li, Junwei Wang, Yifan Active fabrics with controllable stiffness for robotic assistive interfaces |
| title | Active fabrics with controllable stiffness for robotic assistive interfaces |
| title_full | Active fabrics with controllable stiffness for robotic assistive interfaces |
| title_fullStr | Active fabrics with controllable stiffness for robotic assistive interfaces |
| title_full_unstemmed | Active fabrics with controllable stiffness for robotic assistive interfaces |
| title_short | Active fabrics with controllable stiffness for robotic assistive interfaces |
| title_sort | active fabrics with controllable stiffness for robotic assistive interfaces |
| topic | Engineering Architectured materials Soft robot |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/178953 |
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