title: Multidirectional Artificial Muscles from Nylon.
abstract: Multidirectional artificial muscles are made from highly oriented nylon filaments. Thanks to the low thermal conductivity of nylon and its anisotropic thermal expansion, bending occurs when a nylon beam is differentially heated. This heat can be generated via a Joule heating mechanism or high power laser pulses.
authors.affiliation: BioInstrumentation Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Seyed M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Mirvakili
authors.affiliation: BioInstrumentation Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Ian W
authors.initials: IW
authors.lastname: Hunter
keywords: artificial muscles; bending actuators; multidirectional actuator; nylon artificial muscles; thermal actuators