ABSTRACT Artificial muscles are increasingly utilized as mechanical actuators owing to their good adaptability and high power-to-mass ratio. The implementation of fibrous artificial muscles in soft robots is of particular interest because of their good adaptability, reduced sectional area, and compact structure. To apply fibrous muscles, their actuation properties should include large deformations and high load capacities. However, single fibres usually do not possess both properties. Thus, fibre array muscles that can balance the large deformations and high loads have become a key objective in the actuator design. Based on nylon and a shape memory alloy (SMA), a composite fibre was developed to design fibre array muscle for the soft finger with variable stiffness in this study. The driving force of the fibre array muscle was predicted based on the requirements regarding the grasping force of the soft finger. Finally, the ply number of the fibre array muscle was determined through a series of experiments. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

中文翻译：

---

基于尼龙和形状记忆合金的变刚度软手指纤维阵列肌肉设计

摘要 人造肌肉由于其良好的适应性和高功率质量比而越来越多地用作机械致动器。纤维人工肌肉在软机器人中的应用特别令人感兴趣，因为它们具有良好的适应性、减小的截面积和紧凑的结构。为了应用纤维肌肉，它们的驱动特性应该包括大变形和高负载能力。然而，单纤维通常不具备这两种特性。因此，能够平衡大变形和高负荷的纤维阵列肌肉已成为执行器设计的关键目标。在本研究中，基于尼龙和形状记忆合金 (SMA)，开发了一种复合纤维，用于设计具有可变刚度的软手指的纤维阵列肌肉。根据对软手指抓握力的要求，预测了纤维阵列肌肉的驱动力。最后，通过一系列实验确定了纤维阵列肌肉的层数。图形概要