Researchers Create Robot Muscles 1000 Times Stronger Than Humans

Researchers from UC Berkeley are working hard on making robots that are incredibly strong. Researchers at the university laboratory have created artificial robot muscles that could give a robot 1000 times the strength of a human. The robotic muscles are said to take advantage of special properties of a material called vanadium dioxide.

That material is a compound that is able to change from an insulator to a conductive metal at 67C. According to the researchers, when that transition happens a significant amount of strength occurs.

The scientists say that the transition creates enough power to move objects that are 50 times heavier than the robotic muscles themselves. The muscles are able to move the objects a significant distance as well, up to 5 times the length of the object within 60 ms. That is faster than the blink of an eye.

The muscles survived repeated contraction even when the speed was ramped up to 200,000 rpm. The researchers believe that the breakthrough will be able to create more powerful robots and the tech might be used to create the next generation of energy-efficient electronics.

SOURCE: Dvice