Researchers from the University of California
Berkeley believe they can develop artificial muscle that is one thousand times
stronger than human muscle (1).
They are creating the material from vanadium dioxide at the micro-level. As
the material heats up to 67 degrees it becomes an extremely strong structure
that has wide application.
The new artificial muscle may someday be
used in Prosthetics or other medical procedures (2).
Controlled by a sensor similar to human
muscles it may function and work nearly identical to human limbs. Researchers
hope that such developments will lead to a new era of medicine and robotics. The
Sci-Fi is nearly here!
The team works for the U.S. Department
of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and are astounded at
the strength (3).
Prior robotics is slower and less agile than human tissue. This new discovery
may offer a new wave of development. Building a suit of such material will allow
someone to lift up a small car and throw it across the street.
It isn’t hard to imagine some places
where this would be beneficial. A warehousing company may need to lift large
packages and having suits of such material means that the individual worker
could carry large boxes easily. It becomes an enhancement of human abilities
that can increase productivity and safety. Certainly, such developments are
further out in the future but they are likely to be here soon enough.
