The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM), an institute nether the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Science and ICT, has developed a flexible, stretchable artillery that bends and stretches similar a snake. This caller artillery could person a wide scope of uses, specified arsenic successful vigor retention exertion and catastrophe situations, with applications successful assorted types of devices, from brushed robots to wearable devices.
The KIMM probe team, led by Senior Researcher Dr. Bongkyun Jang and Principal Researcher Dr. Seungmin Hyun astatine the Department of Nano-Mechanics, developed a stretchable battery operation whose characteristics are based connected the operation of snake scales. On August 16, the team's findings were published online successful Soft Robotics.
Like the boa constrictor that swallowed the elephant successful the novella "The Little Prince," a snake's idiosyncratic scales, portion rigid, tin fold unneurotic to support against outer impact. They besides person structural characteristics that let them to beryllium highly stretchable and determination flexibly.
The KIMM probe squad developed the highly stretchable artillery with an fantabulous stableness and show by fabricating a mechanical meta-structure mimicking a snake's scale. Unlike accepted wearable devices, successful which the device's framework and the artillery are combined successful a choky formation, this caller exertion enables flexible question by connecting respective small, hard batteries successful a scale-like structure.
To guarantee the battery's safety, the probe squad besides minimizes deformation of the materials composing artillery by optimal plan of the scale-like structure. Also, the signifier of each artillery compartment was optimized to execute precocious capableness per a portion size.
Designing the signifier of the artillery compartment and the connective components were the cardinal aspects of this technological achievement. Small, hexagonal artillery cells resembling snake scales were connected with polymer and copper worldly that usage a hinge mechanics to fold and unfold. This plan besides facilitates economical mass-production, due to the fact that the artillery tin beryllium made by cutting and folding flexible electrodes with a manufacturing process inspired by the creation of origami.
This caller exertion tin beryllium implemented successful vigor retention devices recovered successful wearable soft robots for humans, which necessitate brushed and flexible vigor retention devices, oregon for those recovered successful rehabilitation aesculapian devices for the aged and the sick who request carnal assistance. In addition, these batteries could beryllium utile arsenic powerfulness proviso devices for brushed robots that are utilized connected tract during disasters to assistance behaviour rescue missions. Thanks to their quality to determination flexibly and freely alteration shape, robots equipped with these batteries tin beryllium utilized to entree constrictive spaces blocked disconnected by obstacles during specified catastrophe situations.
In the future, the KIMM probe squad hopes to make exertion that tin summation the retention capableness of brushed vigor retention devices. The squad besides hopes to make multi-functional brushed robots that harvester artificial muscles with brushed robot actuation technology.
Dr. Bongkyun Jang stated that by applying the operation and plan of snake scales, the KIMM probe squad developed a battery that is not lone harmless to use, but besides retains its flexibility and stretchability. He besides added that, down the road, helium and his squad purpose to proceed conducting follow-up probe and development, truthful that this exertion tin beryllium utilized for rehabilitation aesculapian attraction and catastrophe alleviation and assistance guarantee the wellness and information of the wide public.
More information: Myoung-Ho Kim et al, Bioinspired, Shape-Morphing Scale Battery for Untethered Soft Robots, Soft Robotics (2021). DOI: 10.1089/soro.2020.0175
Provided by National Research Council of Science & Technology
Citation: A flexible, stretchable artillery susceptible of moving smoothly similar snake scales (2021, September 28) retrieved 28 September 2021 from https://techxplore.com/news/2021-09-flexible-stretchable-battery-capable-smoothly.html
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