Toward a safer material for artificial muscles

Whether wriggling your toes or lifting groceries, muscles in your body smoothly expand and contract. Some polymers can do the same thing—acting like artificial muscles—but only when stimulated by dangerously high voltages. ...

Will strong and fast-switching artificial muscle be feasible?

In the American action movie "Pacific Rim," giant robots called "Jaegers" fight against unknown monsters to save mankind. These robots are equipped with artificial muscles that mimic real living bodies and defeat monsters ...

Enhancing the electromechanical behavior of a flexible polymer

Piezoelectric materials convert mechanical stress into electricity, or vice versa, and can be useful in sensors, actuators and many other applications. But implementing piezoelectrics in polymers—materials composed of molecular ...

3-D-printed smart gel changes shape when exposed to light

Inspired by the color-changing skin of cuttlefish, octopuses and squids, Rutgers engineers have created a 3-D-printed smart gel that changes shape when exposed to light, becomes "artificial muscle" and may lead to new military ...

Jelly invention can heal itself like human skin

Scientists from The Australian National University (ANU) have invented a new jelly material that mimics biological matter such as skin, ligaments and bone, and which is very strong, self-healing and able to change shape.

page 3 from 9