An artificial muscle driven by decomposition of gas solution

Abstract

This note develops an artificial muscle driven by the decomposition of gas solution. It mainly consists of a silicone tube, a resistive wire, a braided mesh shell, and an amount of gas solution which can be decomposed reversibly by temperature variation. It can be operated directly by supplying the resistive wire with controllable electrical power, which is different from traditional fluidic artificial muscles requiring external pressure generating devices. To verify the effectiveness of the artificial muscle, prototypes are fabricated and the process is presented in detail. Ammonia solution is employed in the prototypes due to its high solubility and low decomposition temperature. Experiments under both isometric and isotonic contractions are implemented and the results show that the prototypes can achieve good mechanical performance.