Liquid Crystal Elastomer Based Dexterous Artificial Motor Unit. Issue 17 (19th March 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wang, Yang; He, Qiguang; Wang, Zhijian; Zhang, Shengjia; Li, Chenghai; Wang, Zijun; Park, Yong‐Lae; Cai, Shengqiang
• Is Part Of: Advanced materials. Volume 35:Issue 17(2023)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2023-03-19
• Subjects: artificial motor unit -- liquid crystal elastomer -- soft robot; Materials -- Periodicals; Chemical vapor deposition -- Periodicals; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1002/adma.202211283
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0935-9648

Abstract

Abstract: Despite the great advancement in designing diverse soft robots, they are not yet as dexterous as animals in many aspects. One challenge is that they still lack the compact design of an artificial motor unit with a great comprehensive performance that can be conveniently fabricated, although many recently developed artificial muscles have shown excellent properties in one or two aspects. Herein, an artificial motor unit is developed based on gold‐coated ultrathin liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) film. Subject to a voltage, Joule heating generated by the gold film increases the temperature of the LCE film underneath and causes it to contract. Due to the small thermal inertial and electrically controlling method of the ultrathin LCE structure, its cyclic actuation speed is fast and controllable. It is shown that under electrical stimulation, the actuation strain of the LCE‐based motor unit reaches 45%, the strain rate reaches 750%/s, and the output power density is as high as 1360 W kg ‐1 . It is further demonstrated that the LCE‐based motor unit behaves like an actuator, a brake, or a nonlinear spring on demand, analogous to most animal muscles. Finally, as a proof‐of‐concept, multiple highly dexterous artificial neuromuscular systems are demonstrated using the LCE‐based motor unit. Abstract : Under electrical stimulation, the actuation strain of the LCE‐based motor unit can reach 45%, the strain rate is as high as 750%/s, and the output power density is as high as 1360 W kg ‐1 . It is further demonstrated that the LCE‐based motor unit behaves more than an actuator and can be easily integrated into various artificial neuromuscular systems.