A Bioinspired Smart Adhesion Actuator with Fast-Driving and Self-Sensing Capability

Smart adhesion actuators have played an increasingly important role in industrial manufacturing, medical equipment, and other applications of daily life. Inspired by the octopus sucker, a smart bionic adhesion actuator is designed that uses hydrogel-based materials with a photothermal effect to simulate the contraction and relaxation of octopus sucker muscles, enabling it to rapidly grasp and release objects weighing more than 24 times its own weight, while having good cyclic stability. The magnitude of the grasping force can be monitored in real time through an additional sensing structure, which is similar to the nerves of octopus sucker. By sensing and adjusting the state of adsorption, controllable adsorption can be achieved using this self-sensing function, thereby greatly improving energy efficiency. It provides a new direction for the design of smart bionic adhesion actuators with hydrogels.