ElectroactivePolymers
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Turing machine built from artificial muscles may lead to smart prosthetics
In the hierarchy of computing hardware, artificial muscle doesn't really even register: it's usually a target for action, not the perpetrator. The University of Auckland has figured out a way to let those muscles play a more active role. Its prototype Turing machine uses a set of electroactive polymer muscles to push memory elements into place and squeeze piezoresistive switches, performing virtually any calculation through flexing. The proof-of-concept computer won't give silicon circuits any threat when it's running at just 0.15Hz and takes up as much space as a mini fridge, but the hope is to dramatically speed up and shrink down future iterations to where there are advanced computers that occupy the same size as real muscles. Researchers ultimately envision smart prosthetic limbs with near-natural reflexes, completely soft robots with complex gestures and even a switch from digital to analog computing for some tasks. Although we're quite a distance away from any of those muscle-bound ideas becoming everyday realities, it's good to at least see them on the horizon.
Braille Buddy concept keyboard teaches six-dot typing
We've seen any number of gadgets designed to help the visually impaired read (and even occasionally drive), but it's not all that often peripherals come along that teach Braille in the first place. Yasaman Sheri's Braille Buddy concept is clearly the exception to that rule -- it's a six-key device that unfolds like a pearly-white Batarang and audibly speaks letters to you. Would-be learners can then feel the six-dot formation of each corresponding Braille character on the electroactive polymer screen up top, then key in the newly-learned unit of writing with the six buttons on the swinging handles below. A description at Yanko Design suggests Sheri is serious about making these available at libraries and schools, where they'll hopefully spend more time generating text than sailing through the air. Spot the device unfolded right after the break.
Micromuscle makes microrobots that can live inside you
While artificial muscles stand poised to bring a new world of tactility to touchable devices, there's still hope they might fulfill some bigger, loftier goals -- like helping to save lives. That's a large part of where the research at Micromuscle is focused, creating a series of electroactive polymers that do impressive things when placed under small voltages, changing shape and even volume as demonstrated in the Engineering TV clip embedded below. In it you can see a few examples of these things folding into complex, golden structures on their own accord, but the main application seems to be things like catheters that can steer themselves through the bloodstream, drug delivery mechanisms that can deploy multiple substances on command, and even microscopic robots that can pick up tiny things and move them tiny distances. You know what this means: robot armageddon might actually start from the inside.[Via Engineering TV]
NC State researchers uncover muscle mimicking fibers
While some researchers over in Raleigh are having fun tinkering with PlayStation 3 farms and dodging the RIAA, NC State's Drs. Tushar Ghosh and John Muth are occupied building prototypes with fibers they say "resemble human muscle and can exhibit muscle-like capabilities when electrical currents are applied." The duo sees the development as paving the way for "advancements and potential applications in robotics, smart textiles, prosthetics, and biomedicines," as they have reportedly found that polyurethane and silicone tube structures shaped like human muscle strands can be manipulated with electricity. It was noted, however, that the current models are using strands "roughly the size of a pencil lead," but the next step is to scale down the fibers and integrate them into a robotic Mr. and Mrs. Wuf.
