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Living Muscle Powers New Robot Dexterity
29 Oct
Summary
- Scientists developed living tissue actuators for enhanced robot movement.
- These biohybrid actuators enable robots to jump, swim, and grasp.
- The new muscle actuators show over 10 times improved motion.
Scientists at ETH Zurich have successfully engineered centimeter-scale living tissue actuators, paving the way for robots with enhanced dexterity and naturalistic motion. These biohybrid actuators, developed at the Soft Robotics Lab, integrate mouse muscle cells with artificial scaffolds, demonstrating over ten times the motion improvement of earlier iterations.
The new actuators allow small robots to perform a range of movements, including walking, jumping, swimming, and grasping. While currently operating within a nutrient solution to sustain the living tissue, the research highlights the importance of the interaction between muscle and scaffold for optimal function.
This iterative design process, eschewing fixed forms for a computer-first approach, has led to visible muscle flexing, a significant advancement from microscopic movements in previous systems. The researchers envision applications in exploration and medicine, moving beyond science fiction scenarios of advanced cyborgs.
