Development of a dipping wire method to improve the abrasion resistance of a plastic wire

In this study, the concept of a self-repairing wire for tendon-driven robots was proposed. A wire in a tendon-driven robot is worn by friction between the tendon and pulley and also between the tendon and guide rail. A worn tendon may lead to breakage of the tendon and makes it difficult to control the robot. In this study, a method to continuously protect the wire surface was proposed to inhibit tendon abrasion. A polymer layer was formed around the catalyst by coating the surface of the wire with a catalyst and supplying liquid resin to the surface. The layer protected the wire from abrasion and the wire re-formed itself when it was worn by abrasion. Specifically, when the wire was abraded, the catalysts reacted with the liquid resin to re-form the coating. In the study, three experiments were conducted and the results confirmed that the wire was protected from abrasion by re-coating itself.