IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v11y2020i1d10.1038_s41467-020-14988-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A supertough electro-tendon based on spider silk composites

Author

Listed:
  • Liang Pan

    (Nanyang Technological University)

  • Fan Wang

    (Beijing Institute of Technology)

  • Yuan Cheng

    (Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR))

  • Wan Ru Leow

    (Nanyang Technological University)

  • Yong-Wei Zhang

    (Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR))

  • Ming Wang

    (Nanyang Technological University)

  • Pingqiang Cai

    (Nanyang Technological University)

  • Baohua Ji

    (Zhejiang University)

  • Dechang Li

    (Zhejiang University)

  • Xiaodong Chen

    (Nanyang Technological University)

Abstract

Compared to transmission systems based on shafts and gears, tendon-driven systems offer a simpler and more dexterous way to transmit actuation force in robotic hands. However, current tendon fibers have low toughness and suffer from large friction, limiting the further development of tendon-driven robotic hands. Here, we report a super tough electro-tendon based on spider silk which has a toughness of 420 MJ/m3 and conductivity of 1,077 S/cm. The electro-tendon, mechanically toughened by single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and electrically enhanced by PEDOT:PSS, can withstand more than 40,000 bending-stretching cycles without changes in conductivity. Because the electro-tendon can simultaneously transmit signals and force from the sensing and actuating systems, we use it to replace the single functional tendon in humanoid robotic hand to perform grasping functions without additional wiring and circuit components. This material is expected to pave the way for the development of robots and various applications in advanced manufacturing and engineering.

Suggested Citation

  • Liang Pan & Fan Wang & Yuan Cheng & Wan Ru Leow & Yong-Wei Zhang & Ming Wang & Pingqiang Cai & Baohua Ji & Dechang Li & Xiaodong Chen, 2020. "A supertough electro-tendon based on spider silk composites," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-14988-5
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-14988-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-14988-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-020-14988-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Songlin Zhang & Mengjuan Zhou & Mingyang Liu & Zi Hao Guo & Hao Qu & Wenshuai Chen & Swee Ching Tan, 2023. "Ambient-conditions spinning of functional soft fibers via engineering molecular chain networks and phase separation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Shijing Zhang & Yingxiang Liu & Jie Deng & Xiang Gao & Jing Li & Weiyi Wang & Mingxin Xun & Xuefeng Ma & Qingbing Chang & Junkao Liu & Weishan Chen & Jie Zhao, 2023. "Piezo robotic hand for motion manipulation from micro to macro," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Ying Liu & Chan Wang & Zhuo Liu & Xuecheng Qu & Yansong Gai & Jiangtao Xue & Shengyu Chao & Jing Huang & Yuxiang Wu & Yusheng Li & Dan Luo & Zhou Li, 2024. "Self-encapsulated ionic fibers based on stress-induced adaptive phase transition for non-contact depth-of-field camouflage sensing," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Peng, Linyu & Arai, Noriyoshi & Yasuoka, Kenji, 2022. "A stochastic Hamiltonian formulation applied to dissipative particle dynamics," Applied Mathematics and Computation, Elsevier, vol. 426(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-14988-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.