Scientists from the University of Texas, Dallas have developed a process of using coiled fish lines together with other types of nylon to form prosthetic limbs.
Aside from these artificial limbs, the technology was also able to produce intelligent robots, windows that shut down and open depending on the current weather, and clothing which is reactive to the temperature.
The concept of the discovery was similar to the Chinese finger trap, the more you try to pull your fingers away from the tube, the more the tube will coil around your fingers.
Research leader and director of Alan G. MacDiarmid NanoTech Institute at the University of Texas at Dallas, Ray H. Baughman, said to Dallas News, "A helical structure, if it has the right degree of twist, shrinks in length when it increases in volume."
The artificial muscles contract using adequate force to enable it to carry heavy objects. Human muscles contract by around 20 percent, and in comparison, the artificial muscles contracts by 50 percent, thus making it more powerful than humans.
The researchers experimented with different threads with varying thickness. The thinnest of these threads was used to imitate facial reactions for humanoid robots. Thicker threads, on the hand, could be used for prosthetic limbs that will give humans enough power to lift weighty objects. Another application of this technology is the creation of an automatic sensor which shuts down or opens the window depending on the weather outside.
The artificial muscles can also be woven into textile, paving the way for heat-reactive clothing. These clothes would have the ability to loosen its stitching during hot days, allowing air to pass through the clothes. Similarly, when the weather is chilly, the clothes will tighten their weaving.
This research was published in the Feb. 21 issue of Science.
