NeuroSilk - Bio Neuromorphic Humanoid Robotics: Integration of Proton Donor–Acceptor (PrDA) Artificial Spider Silk Hydrogel Fibers for Soft Ionic Signal Transmission, HASEL Artificial Muscles, and Carbon Fiber Endoskeleton toward Embodied AI Systems

This thesis introduces the NeuroSilk Hybrid Robotics Architecture (NSS), a biomimetic framework for humanoid robots that emulates the human musculoskeletal and nervous systems through the coordinated integration of three principal technologies: neuron-inspired Proton Donor–Acceptor (PrDA) artificial spider silk hydrogel fibres serving as a soft, adhesive, and ionically conductive nervous system; Hydraulically Amplified Self-healing Electrostatic (HASEL) actuators serving as compliant artificial muscles; and a lightweight carbon fibre composite endoskeleton providing structural support. A four-layer architecture (endoskeleton → muscles → nerves → silicone skin with evaporative cooling) is proposed, fabricated at the component level, and characterised mechanically, electrically, and thermally. The integrated system addresses well-documented limitations of rigid robotics — high energy consumption, poor compliance, limited distributed sensing, and unsafe human interaction — while advancing the emerging field of embodied neuromorphic AI through physical, brain-like ionic signal processing and morphological computation. The work is conducted independently and shared in alignment with NASA's Transform to Open Science (TOPS) initiative.

Keywords: NeuroSilk; PrDA hydrogel; HASEL actuators; soft robotics; embodied AI; hybrid robotics; neuromorphic computing; humanoid robotics; aerospace engineering; mechatronics.