Biomimetic robotic joint mechanism driven by soft linear actuators

From being soft, flexible and producing movement by contracting, soft linear actuators are said to have muscle-like properties. Due to these similarities, they are often called “artificial muscle actuator.” However, the strain produced by these actuators is generally insufficient to be utilized in a large range of applications. Some solutions have been developed, but they sacrifice force to increase the displacement. Meanwhile, the force produced by skeletal muscles increases as it contracts due to its working principle, which is based on the “sliding filament mechanism.” The limitations of soft linear actuators could be overcome by mimicking the contraction process of skeletal muscles. Two types of muscle-inspired robotic joint mechanisms based on the sliding filament mechanism principle are proposed in this work. The mechanisms can be operated using any type of soft linear actuators as well as traditional actuators or motors, and this work realizes the implementation using shape memory alloy wires and 3D printed mechanical parts. The feasibility of both proposed mechanisms, and their capabilities were experimentally verified.