We often want “muscles” in our projects.
But, servos (and motors) are large, power hungry, noisy, and rotate (rather than pull directly).
Pneumatics seem to require a bulky, power hungry, noisy pump.
Memory metal has some nice scale, but is also power hungry (and hot).
Piezo (film) seems promising, but is weak and requires high-voltage (though almost zero current).
So, I’ve been keeping an eye out for alternatives.
MEMs is the domain I’m most interested in: micro sized.
Here’s a paper on a thermo-acoustic (also a super cool technique) micro pump. One would have to fabricate it.
Bio – MEMS Thermally – Actuated Micropump
There’s a commercial air-pump that’s quite small, 19mm x 19mm x 2.3mm. Might be interesting to play with.
Coiled monofilament is also interesting, very DIY
artificial-muscles-easy-to-make-by-twisting-fishing-line. Good DIY instructions for that.
There’s some interesting piezo motors (in some of your phones, for mechanical focusing).
Any thing else?
awgrover 