Artificial Muscle Is In! You Would Not Believe What It Is Made Up -- MIT Research (Video)

As technology is part of the human life, more powerful and useful creations are being made. In line with this, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) conducted an experiment that allows nylon thread to be used as artificial muscles.

A team of researchers from MIT has developed a new artificial muscle. The experts used cheap and accessible materials and develop them to function as muscle fibers.

The new artificial muscles developed by the MIT take advantage of the not so usual property of nylon used in the fishing line. It is because nylon can diminish in length and expand in diameter when heated.

A doctoral candidate who is part of the study said that "The cooling rate can be a limiting factor. But I realized it could be used to an advantage. Selectively heating one side of the fiber, causes that side to begin contracting faster than the heat can penetrate to the other side, and thus can produce a bending motion in the fiber. You need a combination of these properties," according to MIT News.

To develop this artificial muscle, first, the cross-section of the nylon thread needs to be specifically molded using a rolling mill to compress its cross-section from round to square or rectangular. Furthermore, by printing conductive ink on one side, this would cause it to heat up.

As follows, the fiber is then bent in that direction. The researchers then found that by changing the direction of this heating, they are able to make the material acquire more intricate motions that include moving in circles. The study was published in the journal Advanced Materials.

Meanwhile, a professor at the University of Wollongong, Australia, who is not part of the study, Geoffrey Spinks, mentioned that "This method is novel and elegant, with very good experimental data supported by appropriate physics-based models. This is a simple idea that works really well. The materials are inexpensive," as per report by News Atlas.

In addition, the method of actuation is by a simple electrical input. The bending actuation performance is impressive in terms of bending angle, a force generated and speed.

The researchers said that other uses of the new fiber could include clothes that adjust automatically to the body's shape when the electrical charge is applied. The experts even suggested that in the manner of Back To The Future, the MIT fibers can be used as shoelaces that can tighten itself for the ultimate shoe performance.