Owl-Neck-Spine-Inspired, Additively Manufactured, Joint Assemblies with Shape Memory Alloy Wire Actuators

Nature provides a considerable number of good examples for simple and very efficient joint assemblies. One example is the enormously flexible cervical spine of American barn owls, which consists of 14 cervical vertebrae. Each pair of vertebrae produces a comparatively small individual movement in order to provide a large overall movement of the entire cervical spine. The biomimetic replication of such joints is difficult due to the delicate and geometric unrestricted joint shapes as well as the muscles that have to be mimicked. Using X-ray as well as micro-computed tomography images and with the utilisation of additive manufacturing, it was possible to produce the owl neck vertebrae in scaled-up form, to analyse them and then to transfer them into technically usable joint assemblies. The muscle substitution of these joints was realised by smart materials actuators in the form of shape memory alloy wire actuators. This actuator technology is outstanding for its muscle-like movement and for its high-energy density. The disadvantage of this wire actuator technology is the low rate of contraction, which means that a large length of wire has to be installed to generate adequate movement. For this reason, the actuator wires were integrated into additively manufactured carrier components to mimic biological joints. This resulted in joint designs that compensate for the disadvantages of the small contraction of the actuators by intelligently installing large wire lengths on comparatively small installation spaces, while also providing a sufficient force output. With the help of a test rig, the developed technical joint variants are examined and evaluated. This demonstrated the technical applicability of this biomimetic joints.