Textile Actuation Based on In‐Air Actuating Polypyrrole‐Based Tape Yarns for Wearable Soft Robotics: Toward On‐Body Applications

Soft robotics employs deformable materials and structures to achieve compliance and adaptability,enabling safe and close interaction with humans. Merging electromechanically active polymer actuation with textile technology enables soft, large area actuators with form factors being 1D (fibers), 2D (fabrics), or 3D (garments), all relevant for wearable soft robotics. This study investigates in‐air actuating polypyrrole (PPy)‐based trilayer tape yarns (TYs) and the effect of integrating them into woven fabric actuators. Individual TYs are developed, consisting of two polypyrrole layers sandwiching a poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membrane filled with anionic liquids (IL). The impact of ionic liquid, PPy thickness, and frequency response on displacement and blocking force is investigated. Individual TYs offer the highest displacement of 30.6 ± 3.6 mm (±1.5 V) at 2.5 mHz and blocking force at 0.20 ± 0.07 mN (±1.0 V, 2.5 mHz). Next, weaving is used to integrate TYs into plain weave actuating fabrics, enabling the assembly of many TYs together without a decrease in displacement. Additive force in woven actuators scales linearly with increased force up to 1.13 ± 0.18 mN (5 TYs), addressed by integrated conductive yarns. Multiarea fabric actuation is demonstrated, as well as an on‐body wearable application of the fabric actuator.