Revolutionary MIT Fibers: Smart Fabrics That Sense and Respond to Cold
Imagine not needing a different coat for every season, but instead owning a jacket that dynamically changes its structure, becoming more insulating to keep you warm as the temperature drops. An interdisciplinary team of researchers at MIT has developed a programmable fiber that could make this vision a reality in the near future.
This fiber, known as FibeRobo, contracts when the temperature rises and automatically returns to its original state as it cools down—without any built-in sensors or rigid components. The fiber is inexpensive, fully compatible with existing textile manufacturing techniques, and can be produced continuously by the kilometer. This allows designers to easily integrate actuation and sensing capabilities into a wide range of fabrics for various applications.
The fibers can also be combined with conductive thread, which acts as a heating element when an electric current passes through it. This means the fibers can be activated electrically, giving users digital control over the shape of the textile.
Jack Forman, a graduate student at the Tangible Media Group in the MIT Media Lab, stated, “We use textiles for everything. But the thing that should be the most adaptive and responsive—textiles—are completely inert.”
The research will be presented at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology.
How FibeRobo Works
Current shape-changing fibers have limitations that mostly prevent their integration into textiles outside of laboratory settings. The MIT researchers created a fiber that can activate silently and change its shape while remaining compatible with standard textile manufacturing processes. To achieve this, they used a material known as a liquid crystal elastomer (LCE).
The result is FibeRobo, a fiber that can contract by 40% without bending, activate at skin-safe temperatures, and costs just 20 cents per meter.
Potential Applications and Future Plans
The MIT team demonstrated several applications for FibeRobo, including an adaptive sports bra that tightens when the wearer begins physical activity. In the future, the researchers aim to adjust the fiber’s chemical components so it can be recyclable or biodegradable.