Synthetic Muscle Breakthrough Could Lead to “Lifelike” Robots

Megalith

Megalith

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Researchers at Columbia Engineering have developed a 3D-printed synthetic tissue that can act as active muscle. The material, which can push, pull, bend, and twist (thanks to its use of silicone rubber and ethanol-dispensing micro-bubbles) is also capable of carrying 1,000 times its own weight. "Now who's the dipsh*t, you jock douchebag."

Previously, no material has been capable of functioning as a soft muscle due to an inability to exhibit the desired properties of high actuation stress and high strain. Existing soft actuator technologies are typically based on pneumatic or hydraulic inflation of elastomer skins that expand when air or liquid is supplied to them. The external compressors and pressure-regulating equipment required for such technologies prevent miniaturization and the creation of robots that can move and work independently.
 
Needs a buttload of power (30v 1.5A+? Damn! ) and it is pretty slow.
A really good start but methinks it needs a lot of optimization and tuning before it is usable in real world applications.

I can see a lot of applications for it such as enabling movement for paraplegics and sex bots :D
 
sfsuphysics said:
Synthetic muscle leads to robots.... how about synthetic muscle leads to people with lost limbs having much more usable limbs?
Click to expand...

But they would either have to carry around huge battery packs or be plugged into an outlet.
 
This just reminds me of marshmallow peeps put into a microwave for about 15-30 seconds.
 
Very cool stuff, this could be the beginning of the next big thing for sure. I just hope that Heathkt makes a kit I can experiment with at home.
 
sfsuphysics said:
Synthetic muscle leads to robots.... how about synthetic muscle leads to people with lost limbs having much more usable limbs?
Click to expand...
or, or.... synthetic muscles leads people to have more than 2 arms
 
AK0tA said:
Very cool stuff, this could be the beginning of the next big thing for sure. I just hope that Heathkt makes a kit I can experiment with at home.
Click to expand...

LOL.. i had thought they went out of business years ago. but low and behold, they still exist. hahaha

me and my dad built a computer from one of their kits back in very early 80's. it was a blue plastic thing, about a foot square if i remember right.

too funny
 
How did this article not carry some iteration of "robots will kill us all"? While it doesn't explicitly show a killer robot, it's like watching "how to build a bomb" at a hardware store.

All joking aside, this could be really exciting for the field of biomechanics. Being able to construct hands (that actually look like hands) for prosthetics could be huge for giving back a sense of normalcy for those running around with claws.
 
robotics is stupid.

bionics are where it's at.

all i want is go go gadget (insert awesome shit here). come on science!
 
cyberguyz said:
Needs a buttload of power (30v 1.5A+? Damn! ) and it is pretty slow.
A really good start but methinks it needs a lot of optimization and tuning before it is usable in real world applications.

I can see a lot of applications for it such as enabling movement for paraplegics and sex bots :D
Click to expand...
I think you need an arc reactor in your chest.

I also read a superhero parody that referred to something exactly like this as "synthmuscle" and I can't not call it that.
 
If you want robots to be helpful and assist humans...why bother making them human in limb and body design? The human physique is not the optimal design for many many applications.

It's like the movie Automata, the 'sentient' robots (built by humans) create a new design of robot in the most efficient design to their considerations. It looks like a cockroach, not a human.

The human that sees it goes "Why the fuck did you make it look like that??"

The robots just look at one another.
 
The reason you would make a robot anthropomorphic is not for function but for acceptability. People are not going to buy one tat looks like a spider but they will if it looks human or cute.
 
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