New fabric may lead to ‘active clothing,’ wearable robots

Researchers are developing a robotic fabric that moves and contracts and is embedded with sensors, an approach that may lead to “active clothing” and a new class of “soft” robots.

Such an elastic technology could make possible robots that have sensory skin, stretchable robotic garments that people might wear for added strength and endurance, “g-suits” for pilots or astronauts to counteract the effects of acceleration, and lightweight, versatile robots to roam alien landscapes during space missions, researchers said.

The robotic fabric is a cotton material containing sensors made of a flexible polymer and threadlike strands of a shape-memory alloy that return to a coiled shape when heated, causing the fabric to move.

“We have integrated both actuation and sensing, whereas most robotic fabrics currently in development feature only sensing or other electronic components that utilise conductive thread,” said Rebecca Kramer, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University.

“We also use standard sewing techniques to introduce the thread-like actuators and sensors into the fabric, so they could conceivably be integrated into the existing textile manufacturing infrastructure,” she said.