We spent a fair bit of time evaluating twisted string
actuators to build low-cost robots. Unfortunately, [...]
their lifecycle is measured in the many thousands instead
of millions -- despite our best efforts at material
engineering.
I'd be interested to hear more about the materials they tried and what the failures typically were.
I avoided clicking this title for hours, thinking it was something to do with the Twisted framework.
Using "actuator" about software is uncommon of course, but considering other terms in use in Twisted ("deferred" as a noun, "errback", "reactor" pattern) it didn't surprise me.
Not at all, the string actuated spider just uses strings because they're flexible (i.e. they can make linear actuation go around a corner aided by a pully).
