A team of scientists led by Swiss researchers announced Monday that they have designed the first robotic leg with “artificial muscles,” which are oil-filled pockets that allow jumping on different surfaces.
In a video accompanying the study, published in the journal Nature Communications, the tiny robotic leg is seen making small jumps in a circle covered with grass, sand and stones.
The researchers hope their technology could be used in robots that can “perform boring household tasks,” study co-author Robert Katchman told AFP.
The research team was inspired by the fact that the human body uses about 600 muscles in order to create a robot capable of walking and jumping smoothly.
To do this, the researchers used so-called “artificial muscles,” also known as electro-hydraulic actuators.
These muscles resemble tiny freezer bags attached to the metal bones of the robotic leg. Filled with oil and equipped with electrodes, they contract and relax by mimicking the movement of animal muscles.
Researchers hope their technology could be used in robots that can “accomplish boring household tasks.”
ability to hug
Regular humanoid robots are made with solid metal motors and joints similar to those used on industrial assembly lines, said Kachman, a professor of robotics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.
He pointed out that these industrial robots are too heavy, and therefore dangerous, and too expensive to be used in the home. A home robot should not only be able to carry loads, but should also be equipped with the ability to “hug or shake hands.”
The artificial muscle technology has the advantage of using less energy than a traditional motor when bending the robot’s knee, according to the study.
It also allows the leg to approach difficult terrain with greater agility, according to the researchers.
Research in the field of electrohydraulic motors is still relatively new.
The leg being tested can jump 13 centimeters, or 40% of its height. But at this stage it can only do this in a circle, where it is attached to an axis around which it rotates.
Scientists have not yet been able to develop a fully functional robot using artificial muscles. But Professor Katchman believes that mass production of artificial muscles, driven by the falling cost of their components, could speed up movement.