Robohub.org
ep.

168

podcast
 

Nylon Fishing Line Actuator with Geoff Spinks


by
31 October 2014



share this:



In this episode, Ron Vanderkley speaks with Professor Geoffrey Spink from Wollogong University about his team’s work on artificial muscles.

Professor Spink’s Australian led team are able to produce artificial muscles from nylon fishing line that can contract by about 50% of their original length, can generate forces that are over 100 times larger than our own muscle, and produce a mechanical power output of over five kilowatts per kilogram – similar to a jet engine. He tells us that “the advantage of using something as simple as fishing line or sewing thread is that they’re really cheap and they’re readily available… The tools we need to make the fishing line muscles are fishing line, a hair dryer, and an electric drill.”

The process is simply to attach one end of a piece of fishing line to an electric drill and the other end to a weight so that it provides a bit of tension. As the drill is switched on and starts rotating, the weight end of the fishing line is impaired from twisting, and eventually this leads to a phase called over-twisting, where the fishing line forms a coil. Finally, a blast of heat sets the shape and it is left to cool. To make the coil work as an artificial muscle, a little bit of tension is applied again, and then some more heat. The polymer fibers can be made very thin or very thick, with the amount of force generated increasing as the fibers get thicker.

The lifespan of the polymer cord muscles has been tested for one million cycles, and there was no degradation in performance.

Possible uses include artificial muscles for prosthetics, and the design of light weight humanoid robots. In development is a new lymphoedema compression sleeve, which will use these muscle fibres to gently massage the arm. The garment may prevent the build-up of lymphatic fluid and the discomfort that it causes. Woven into clothing fabric, this could create smart garments that are powered by body heat. If the wearer gets too hot, the muscles expand, the weave opens up and that releases some heat until the body has cooled down again. Similar concepts could be used to regulate the temperature in a building or greenhouse.

 

Geoff Spinks

image2Professor Geoff Spinks is an Australian Research Council Professorial Fellow. His research interests focus on new materials and nanotechnology and he specialises in the development and application of materials for artificial muscles.

Spinks has published over 160 journal articles, including 4 co-authored articles in Science magazine. He is the co-recipient of in excess of $35m in grant funding.

Spinks has worked closely with industry including a sabbatical leave with BHP Research and Allied Signal Inc. (USA) and collaborative projects funded through the ARC Linkage and CRC schemes. His current interests include new product development (such as the “Lymph Sleeve”) and new manufacturing methods (such as 3D printing) that use his artificial muscle materials.

Spinks has had a strong engagement with teaching across all levels of engineering materials and was co-founder of UoW’s bachelor degrees in Nanotechnology. He has supervised 22 PhD, 7 Masters and over 50 final year / honours students to completion.

Links:



tags: ,


Ron Vanderkley





Related posts :



Robot Talk Episode 126 – Why are we building humanoid robots?

  20 Jun 2025
In this special live recording at Imperial College London, Claire chatted to Ben Russell, Maryam Banitalebi Dehkordi, and Petar Kormushev about humanoid robotics.

Gearing up for RoboCupJunior: Interview with Ana Patrícia Magalhães

and   18 Jun 2025
We hear from the organiser of RoboCupJunior 2025 and find out how the preparations are going for the event.

Robot Talk Episode 125 – Chatting with robots, with Gabriel Skantze

  13 Jun 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Gabriel Skantze from KTH Royal Institute of Technology about having natural face-to-face conversations with robots.

Preparing for kick-off at RoboCup2025: an interview with General Chair Marco Simões

and   12 Jun 2025
We caught up with Marco to find out what exciting events are in store at this year's RoboCup.

Interview with Amar Halilovic: Explainable AI for robotics

  10 Jun 2025
Find out about Amar's research investigating the generation of explanations for robot actions.

Robot Talk Episode 124 – Robots in the performing arts, with Amy LaViers

  06 Jun 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Amy LaViers from the Robotics, Automation, and Dance Lab about the creative relationship between humans and machines.

Robot Talk Episode 123 – Standardising robot programming, with Nick Thompson

  30 May 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Nick Thompson from BOW about software that makes robots easier to program.

Congratulations to the #AAMAS2025 best paper, best demo, and distinguished dissertation award winners

  29 May 2025
Find out who won the awards presented at the International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems last week.



 

Robohub is supported by:




Would you like to learn how to tell impactful stories about your robot or AI system?


scicomm
training the next generation of science communicators in robotics & AI


©2025.05 - Association for the Understanding of Artificial Intelligence


 












©2025.05 - Association for the Understanding of Artificial Intelligence