Spring-woven fabric, manufacturing method therefor, flexible actuator using same, wearable robot comprising flexible actuator, and massage device comprising flexible actuator

A manufacturing method for a fabric, the fabric configured to be contracted or relaxed by external power supply, a relaxation length of the fabric being limited by a relaxation length limiting part, the method comprising:

• continuously winding a wire corresponding to a thermal response drive element around a core wire to be removed later, in a form of a spring;
• heat-treating the wire in the form of the spring wound around the core wire and storing the wire in a spring-shaped form;
• weaving the fabric using a separately prepared non-conductive wire and the spring-shaped wire wound around the core wire;
• and
• removing the core wire from the woven fabric,
• wherein the fabric is woven using the wire of the thermal response drive element, in a state having the core wire to be removed later, as a warp or a weft.

A flexible actuator comprising:

• a fabric comprising a thermal response drive element and a wire, wherein the thermal response drive element has a spring shape and is configured to function as one of a warp and a weft, and the wire is configured to function as the remaining of the warp and the weft;
• a controller configured to control a power supply to the fabric;
• and
• a relaxation length limiting part configured to limit a relaxation length of the fabric,
• wherein the fabric is configured to contracted or relaxed by the power supply, and
• wherein the fabric is woven using the spring-shape thermal response drive element, in a state having a core wire to be removed later, as the warp or the weft.