Engadget: Rubbery artificial muscles promise to make robots more lifelike

Engadget Engadget Rubbery artificial muscles promise to make robots more lifelike 24 Mar 2011, 3:22 pm Some robots may already look pretty lifelike, but it's still quite a different story when they're actually moving, when all the mechanical parts inside make themselves known with some unmistakable, robot-like movements. Some researchers at New Zealand's Auckland Bioengineering Institute now have one possible solution to that problem, however -- a motor with none of the usual moving parts. Instead, the rubbery, Cronenberg-esque contraption relies on some electroactive structures that can stretch by more than 300 percent, and expand and contract when a voltage is applied. While things are obviously still very early, it's conceivable that robots could eventually be built entirely out of these artificial muscles -- or, as lead researcher Iain Anders succinctly puts it, "the future is soft." Video after the break. Continue reading Rubbery artificial muscles promise to make robots more lifelike Rubbery artificial muscles promise to make robots more lifelike originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Mar 2011 11:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink PC World  |  Auckland Bioengineering Institute  | Email this | Comments You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed.