|
This story is from the category Augmenting Organics
Date posted: 20/01/2006 Researchers from the University of Sheffield in England, the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC) in the UK, and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in France have overcome the problems inherent in artificial muscles based on electricity or temperature. Much of the research into artificial muscle involves using electricity or temperature to change the shape of polymer materials. A major aim of this research is to use these materials to someday power machines like robots. Biological muscle is chemically driven, and so too is their new prototype muscle. Solving the previous problem with chemical muscles of sheer bulk, the researchers' synthetic muscle increases in volume three times in the presence of a high pH solution and contracts in the presence of a low pH solution. The material is a 90-nanogram weakling compared to biological muscle; it is one million times less powerful than myosin and 10,000 times weaker than striated muscle. It is also extremely slow, completing a cycle of expansion and contraction in about 20 minutes. However, it demonstrates that biological-like artificial muscle is possible, and there are routes to making the chemically-driven device much more powerful, according to the researchers. Such muscles could tap chemical energy directly rather than having to convert it into electricity or heat, which could eventually make artificial muscle more practical. See the full Story via external site: www.trnmag.com Most recent stories in this category (Augmenting Organics): 04/05/2013: Printable 'bionic' ear melds electronics and biology |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
