Robots to soon require exercises like humans for more strength, lifelike agility
The latest system proposed by Chinese researchers relies on electrodes to deliver uniform electrical stimulation to promote muscle contraction and growth.
According to a study, robots built with lab-grown skeletal muscle tissue could require physical exercises similar to those of humans. Called biohybrid robots, these innovations can achieve lifelike agility with exercises like human workouts.
A new study from China concluded that physical training of artificial muscles during their growth phase can double contraction strength. It can also enable biohybrid caterpillar-bot to move much faster than conventional processes.
Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences proposed an electromechanical co-stimulation system to boost the effectiveness and performance of artificial skeletal muscle tissues.
Mechanical training for the artificial skeletal muscle
Published in a January issue of the peer-reviewed journal Advanced Functional Materials, the researchers developed a system to simultaneously apply electrical and mechanical training to the artificial skeletal muscle as it grows like human muscle is trained.
According to the study, Chuang Zhang and co-workers, inspired by the training mode of human skeletal muscle, proposed the electromechanical co-stimulation system for the enhanced culture of artificial skeletal muscle tissue.