An interdisciplinary MIT team has developed FibeRobo- a programmable, actuating fiber that could someday be used in textiles. This thermally-actuated liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) fiber could enable silent and responsive interactions with shape-changing, fiber-based interfaces.
Fiberobo contracts in response to an increase in temperature, then self-reverses when the temperature decreases, without any embedded sensors or other complex components. It can be coupled with a conductive thread, an element when an electric current is heated. In this sense, the fibers are electrically actuated, giving the user digital control over the shape of a textile. A fabric might, for example, alter its structure in response to any digital data, including heart rate sensor measurements.
The drawbacks of the current shape-changing fibers have mainly prohibited their use in textiles outside of experimental settings.
A single fiber, a shape-changing alloy, seldom ceases functioning after a few actions, only contracts by roughly 5%, and cannot self-reverse. Another is a pneumatically powered device, a McKibben actuator, which needs an air compressor to operate.
The MIT researchers’ project aimed to create a fiber that could function silently, undergo significant morphological changes and work with standard textile production processes. They employed a liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) to do this.
Caption:The fiber contracts in response to an increase in temperature, then self-reverses when the temperature decreases, without any embedded sensors or other hard components. Credit: MIT
A liquid crystal comprises a group of molecules that flow like liquids yet stack into periodic crystal arrangements when given time to settle. The scientists integrate these crystal structures into an elastic network called an elastomer, which resembles a rubber band.
The fiber contracts as the LCE material heats up because the crystal molecules misalign and pull the elastomer network together. According to Forman, when the heat is removed, the molecules realign, and the material stretches to its initial length.
The ultimate characteristics of the fiber, such as its thickness and the temperature at which it actuates, may be precisely controlled by the researchers by carefully combining chemicals to create the LCE. They developed a method of preparation that yields LCE fiber that is acceptable for wearable fabrics and can actuate at temperatures that are safe for human skin. This was not possible for scientists to achieve with other LCE fibers.
In their study, scientists built a machine using 3D-printed and laser-cut parts and basic electronics to overcome the fabrication challenges. They begin by heating the thick and dense LCE resin and then slowly squeezing through a nozzle like a glue gun.
After extracting the resin, it is carefully cured with UV rays on both sides of the fiber as it progressively extrudes.
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The material will separate and flow out of the machine if the light is too faint, but clumps may form if the light is too bright, resulting in rough strands.
After that, the fiber is coated with oil to make it slippery and is once more cured under intense UV radiation to produce a robust and smooth yarn. The material is gathered onto a top spool and coated with powder to facilitate its easy insertion into textile manufacturing machinery.
The entire process, from chemical synthesis to completed spool, takes about one day and yields roughly one kilometer of usable fiber.
As scientists reported, FibeRobo can contract up to 40 percent without bending actuate at skin-safe temperatures. It can be produced with a low-cost setup for 20 cents per meter, which is about 60 times cheaper than commercially available shape-changing fibers.
Caption: They also used an industrial knitting machine to create a compression jacket for lead author Jack Forman’s dog, whose name is Professor. The jacket would actuate and “hug” the dog based on a Bluetooth signal from Forman’s smartphone. Credits: MIT
Using the Fiberobo, scientists created a jacket for a dog named Professor. The jacket would ” hug ” the dog when it received a Bluetooth signal from Forman’s smartphone. When a dog’s owner is away, compression jackets are frequently used to help ease their separation anxiety.
Lining Yao, the Cooper-Siegel Associate Professor of Human-Computer Interaction at Carnegie Mellon University, who was not involved with this work, said, “LCE fibers come to life when integrated into functional textiles. It is particularly fascinating to observe how the authors have explored creative textile designs using a variety of weaving and knitting patterns.”
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
