Inspired by nature, a better artificial muscle was developed
Making artificial limbs work like the original has been a lofty goal for years. Hooks, pulleys, servos, all sorts of gadgets to make fingers and wrists move and respond. Until now, that’s been the limit, but now inspired by the elephant’s trunk, a breakthrough has been made:
It’s not often you see a piece of tech touted by its developer as being inspired by something “long, gray, and soft,” but that’s exactly how the researchers at Germany’s prolific Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Institute are describing their ISELLA robotic arms. Inspired by the finesse and power of an elephant’s trunk, the team developed a unique redundant motorized “muscle” called DOHELIX, consisting of dual drive shafts intertwined around each other in a double helix, resulting in a system that can be scaled from micrometer-scale muscles to cranes in container seaports. Source: Elephant trunks inspire ISELLA robotic arm - Engadget
Coupled with the new nerve sensing technologies replacement limbs that work like the real thing, might be just around the corner.