Rubbery muscle motors make robots more flexible

New Scientist : Like their counterparts in science fiction, the robots that make cars and other objects are rigid devices whose limbs are driven by stiff pistons and other mechanical actuators. Electroactive polymers (EAPs) can mimic the flexible, flexing action of human muscles, offering engineers a way to make robots more versatile and lifelike. Now, a team from the Auckland Bioengineering Institute’s Biomimetics Lab in New Zealand has demonstrated that EAP-based muscles can not only produce lever-like contraction; they can also, when suitably configured, produce rotary motion. The advance makes possible new kinds of robots beyond the factory assembly worker or the humanoid companion.