Do androids dream
of elastic cables?
Roboden, developed by Asahi Kasei
Fibers, is believed to be the world’s first
elastic electrical cable. Wiring on robots
usually needs to be slack to allow for the
robots, movement, such as parts twisting or
movement backwards and forwards, but
by using elastic electrical cables the wiring
can perfectly match the robots, movement
without being too tight or loose.
A spokesman from Asahi Kasei Fibers said:
“We manufacture Spandex, an elastic
textile, so we make fabrics that expand
and contract to fit the human body.
As a result, we know that human skin can
stretch by a factor of 1.5. So we thought,
if we can make a cable that stretches
by a factor of 1.5, it could be used for
wearable electronics, or for wiring the
skin of humanoid robots. Those were the
future applications we had in mind when
we began development.”
Roboden is available in various types for
power and signal cables, including USB
cables. It bends easily and has a long
flexure life, so it can be used in many
other situations as well.
“When we talked to Professor Inaba at The
University of Tokyo, he advised us that, for
robots to be more like people, they’ll need
to be soft, so they’ll need something akin
to skin. And if you make skin, you’ll have
wiring in the skin, so the wiring will need to
follow the contours of the robot. Therefore,
to make robots with a soft skin, it’s probably
essential for wiring to be able to expand
and contract.”
wiredInUSA - January 2012
ASIA / AFRICA NEWS
37
