KIMM selects the 'Artificial Muscle Suit' as the Best Research Award

2025-01-29

The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) has selected Dr. Cheul-Hoon Park as the recipient of the 2024 Best Research Award for developing a "bionic suit" that exerts significant strength when worn.

The suit developed by Dr. Park is made by weaving shape-memory alloys, thinner than human hair, into coil-shaped threads to create a fabric that exerts force like muscle. This "muscle fabric," made by contracting the thin shape-memory alloys when an electric current is applied, generates power like muscles. This muscle fabric can easily assist muscle strength when attached to body parts and can also be used by cutting or folding it like ordinary fabric.

The bionic suit made with this muscle fabric can lift loads about 1000 times the weight of the fabric itself. It is also light enough to be worn like everyday clothes and is inexpensive to manufacture. This suit can assist the mobility of the elderly and the physically weak and can contribute to the prevention of musculoskeletal disorders among industrial workers when used in logistics or construction sites.

Source: https://www.daejonilbo.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=2173902