Sewing Machine Makes Cheap Stretchy Component Needed For Wearable Tech And Soft Robots
Purdue University engineers have come up with a new and simpler way to make stretchy connections for electronics. Such power- and information-transporting materials are needed for soft robotics, next-generation implants and wearable technologies to advance.
The group used a regular sewing machine to sew a wire in a zigzag pattern on a sheet of the plastic PET with water-soluble thread. A stretchy, rubbery polymer was poured over the wire and water was then used to dissolve the thread. The PET was pulled away after the thread dissolved and released it from the wire, which was now embedded in the rubbery polymer.