A team of Harvard engineers built biceps for robots from scratch that absorb shock and self-heal #machinemagic
George Whitesides, PhD at the Wyss Institute in Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences and his team came up with actuators or VAMPs (vacuum-actuated muscle-inspired pneumatic structures) that use vacuum to power on artificial muscles. Made with soft rubber, this muscles have a honeycomb structure, the gaps collapsing when applying vacuum and making them contract like real human muscles.
The movement generated by them can help robots lift weights of half of kilogram. Even when they are punctured, they can still function normally, preventing failures. These actuators can be tailored to suit every need, whether we’re talking about twisting, bending or a number of motion combinations.
“There are other soft actuators that have been developed, but this one is most similar to muscle in terms of response time and efficiency.”, says Whitesides. He’s referring to those which relied on pressurized systems to expand in volume, instead of contracting.
So, how is this achievement going to change robots and our world? Well, scientists believe robots with biceps can assist the elderly, in serving food or delivering goods. This is certainly a big step towards making soft-bodied robots, machines more similar to humans.
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