DIY Artificial Muscle

Question: is it possible to build artificial muscle using household items?

Hypothesis: if polyethylene fishing line is coiled tightly, then it will be able to condence when heated because the tight coils will try and unwind when heated

Hi my name is anders and I have always loved the idea of exoskeletons, robots, and petty much anything that moves mechanically. Exoskeletons especially, they always seemed to be the coolest. The idea of being able to run faster, jump higher, or even lift a car above your head is awesome. One of my dreams is to be able to build one of these exoskeletons to do all those those things (besides lifting a car above my head, probably not going happen), so I've been doing quite a bit of research. I've looked into hydrolics and motors, but both are big and bulky and a bit out of my price range. I kept looking, and looking until finally I found something that would work, carbon nano tubes are ultra light and very small and compact, they are also extremely strong. Why does this matter? the university of Texas, dallas recently discovered that carbon nano tubes contract when an electrical current is passed through them, quite ingenious if I do say so myself. There is one problem with carbon nano tubes though, they are very difficult to make and aren't being sold, at least not to my knowledge. There I was back exactly where I started, square one, no other way to go, so some time went by and I went on YouTube and typed In "artificial muscle" and in the auto complete section below the box it said "artificial muscle fishing line", curious I clicked on it and found a pretty interesting video that I decided to watch it was an animation of a line being spun until it sarted forming coils, then it showed it stretching and then contracting. I watched some more videos and found out that these are extremely cheap and easy to make, assuming you've used a drill before. I also found out that their contraction strength was stronger than carbon Nanotubes and they were a hundred times stronger than a human muscle of equivalent size which is awesome. Another thing I learned was that they were made by the same university that makes artificial carbon muscles, this was very exciting for me because a would now be able to build these, and build a cheap exoskeleton at my house (if I can find the time).

Why did I build this and put it on instructables? The reason I built this was because there wasn't very many sources to get the info on how to build this. I also made it because I wanted to build a cheap, but effective replacement for motors and hydraulics.

Thank you for all your support, and tips to help me improve my instructables. Without you guys I wouldn't be doing this right now, you should expect many more indestructible in the future so don't forget to subscribe to me and/or favorite this instructable. If you have any question or concern then be sure to comment, or if you just want tell me how awesome this is that's fine too. Here it is, hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to vote for me, thank you.

to make this, you will need a few basic things:

1. Fishing line, this is what our muscle will be made of
2. Wire to hang the drill up, if you don't have a mounted drill like me
3. A pen or thin tube, to keep the line straight and to prevent it from spinning out of control
4. Warn, if your making a large one that expands and contracts with heat
5. Copper wool, if making an electrically powered one
6. Paper clips or pop can tabs, to tie the line on to
7. A drill of any kind
8. not shone, a lighter and a place to hang the drill up

if you don't have a mounted drill then this step is a necessity. Take some wire and hang it up some where

put your drill on the wire and balance it out, it is crucial that you make it level.

take a three foot piece of fishing line and hold it inside the drills bit holder, make sure that it's in the exact center, or else it will affect the quality of the muscle.

on The other end of the line use the two half hitches knot to tie on the paper clip or the pop can tab.

take some sort of weight (I used a flash light) and attach it to the other side of the paper clip, this weight will keep the line straight while you spin it.

In The picture you can see what I did with the pen, I stuck it through the paper clip to hold on to.

to make the coil you will need to hold the pen In one hand and push the button on the drill with the other. At first it will be slow but slowly, it will start shorten until it starts coilling than it will go really fast so you need to watch it carefully.

practice makes perfect. If at first you don't succeed try try again.

once your coil is all ready and at the desired length, then you will need to heat treat it. Do this by taking a lighter and quickly waving it across the line. You should go fast enough that It doesn't melt it, but slow enough so that it dosent put the flame out.

this is what it should look like when your done.

in one evening I made 10 of these, so I decided to make a combo muscle which is a bunch woven together

start by lining them all up one Inch apart while hanging down from something, and on one side tie a piece of yarn to the paper clip.

next weave the yarn in between the individual muscles, going back and forth.

here is a diagram I drew up if you need it.

once you get to the end your finished and are ready to test it, this can be done be hanging it up outing some weight on it and blasting it with a heat gun, a hair dryer won't do anything except make you look silly, so don't use a hair dryer!

Conclusion: I believe with this instructable I have proven that it is possible to make artificial muscles I. Your home cheaply and efficiently.

Final thoughts: In the future I might use copper wire instead of warn so that I will be able to electronically contract these muscles, to make them more efficient and easier to use

Thanks for taking your time to look at my instructible, and I would like to say thank you to every one who has given support and has encouraged me to make more instructibles. if you want to see many more things like this then be sure to follow me. If you made this yourself then I want to see it, leave a photo in the comments below, and For all my followers I say thank you for the support. Don't forget to vote for me, thank you.