Robots with advanced human-like characteristic are a step closer following a breakthrough in robotic “muscles”.
Researchers at MIT have developed a device capable of being used as a basic “skeleton-like” fitting for almost any humanoid bot.
“The new spring, or ‘flexure’, is designed to get the most work out of any attached muscle tissues,” the researchers said.
“Like a leg press…with just the right amount of weight, the device maximizes the amount of movement that a muscle can naturally produce.”
Previously robots have been created with muscle-based “actuators” that power artificial skeletons that can walk, swim, pump, and grip.
However, every different robot needed a different type of build to maximise the muscle function.
The new flexure provides a “general blueprint” for muscle function across any robot design.
“These flexures are like a skeleton that people can now use to turn muscle actuation into multiple degrees of freedom of motion in a very predictable way,” Brit and Alex d’Arbeloff Career Development Professor in Engineering Design at MIT Ritu Raman said.
“We are giving roboticists a new set of rules to make powerful and precise muscle-powered robots that do interesting things.”
The findings are reported in the journal Advanced Intelligent Systems. More details are available on the MIT website.
