WATCH: Human-like muscles power robot

Researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology are developing multifilament artificial muscles that can power future robots instead of the traditional as well as bulky pneumatic and servo-based systems.

The team at Suzumori Endo Robotics Laboratory has been covering an artificial human skeleton with multifilament artificial muscles to simulate movement. Like real human muscles, the filaments contract and expand when an electrical current is applied, Gizmodo reports.

The test unit’s legs are said to have the same number of muscle filaments as the human body. However, this does not mean that it can support its own weight just yet. While the researchers are able to move the limbs, they are still quite slow and clumsy.

Apart from the application on robotics, artificial muscle filaments may also be used on improving prosthetic technology to produce a more accurate replica of a lost appendage. For pop culture reference, the movie “I, Robot” featured NS5 (Sonny) robots utilizing black muscle-like constructs to provide mobility.  Alfred Bayle