MIT News  October 26, 2023
A team of researcher in the US (MIT, Northeastern University) has developed programmable, actuating fiber they call FibeRobo which contracts in response to an increase in temperature, then self-reverses when the temperature decreases, without any embedded sensors or other hard components. Unlike other actuating threads explored in HCI FibeRobo exhibits rapid thermal self-reversing actuation with large displacements (∼40%) without twisting. A reproducible UV fiber drawing setup produces hundreds of meters of fiber with a sub-millimeter diameter, and FibeRobo is fully compatible with existing textile manufacturing machinery such as weaving looms, embroidery, and industrial knitting machines. Their invention contributes to developing temperature-responsive LCE fibers, a facile and scalable fabrication pipeline with optional heating element integration for digital control, mechanical characterization, and the establishment of higher hierarchical textile structures and design space. They also introduced a set of demonstrations that illustrate the design space FibeRobo enables… Video  read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
