With artificial muscles, robots can move more like humans, even jumping nimbly across various surfaces.
In a video released alongside a new study published in the journal Nature Communications, a small, body-less robot leg is seen jumping over grass, sand, and rocks.
Robert Katzschmann, a robotics professor at ETH Zurich (Switzerland) and co-author of the study, stated that they hope this technology can be used in the future to create humanoid robots that assist people with household tasks.
The robot leg can jump across various terrains – (Photo: ETH Zurich).
According to him, conventional humanoid robots are built with rigid metal motors and joints, similar to those used on factory assembly lines. Besides being very expensive to produce, these large robots pose risks if they fall on someone.
In contrast, future service robots will not only need to carry heavy objects but also be able to hug or shake hands with people.
Thus, researchers have designed a robot leg that can walk and jump gracefully and nimbly, based on the fact that the human body has 600 muscles.
To create this robot leg, they used artificial muscles, also known as hydraulic actuators. These hydraulic actuators are filled with oil and have electrodes attached. When these fluids contract and expand, they allow the technology to simulate muscles similar to those of humans.
According to the researchers, this robot leg can navigate rugged terrain more nimbly than previous rigid-legged designs. The soft leg can jump nearly 13 cm, which is about 40% of its length.
Currently, research on hydraulic actuators is still relatively new, having emerged about six years ago. The researchers also acknowledge that this robot leg is not yet capable of moving freely; it can only jump in circles.
However, Professor Katzschmann mentioned that the components needed to create these artificial muscles are not expensive and expressed hope that mass production could be accelerated in the coming years.
