Wrestle a Robot
From: New Scientist - 08/12/2006 - Vol. 191, No. 2564, P. 39
By: Dan Cho

Artificial muscle systems have not advanced to the point where a robot can
defeat a human in an arm-wrestling contest, although such a development could
be on the horizon thanks to recent advances in materials technology. A key
challenge is keeping the muscles reliable without the need for constant
repairs, heavy batteries, or large power input, and researchers have been
inspired by human muscles to come up with a fuel-powered solution.
Researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas' NanoTech Institute were
tasked by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to create
such muscles, and their first project in this vein employed muscular sheets
assembled from carbon nanotubes and incorporated into a fuel cell filled with
sulfuric acid; electrons are consumed when oxygen reacts with the acid to
form water, resulting in a positive charge that causes the nanotube sheet to
contract. Another project the researchers worked on involved a system with a
wire built from a platinum-coated "shape-memory" alloy that contracts when
heated by exposure to methanol vapor in air. Cooling down the wire causes it
to return to its original length. Winning an arm-wrestling contest cannot be
accomplished solely with a fueled-powered muscle; durability, precise
control, and biocompatibility also have to be added. More lifelike robots,
lighter and more nimble artificial limbs, and synthetic organs are some of
the potential breakthroughs that could be facilitated with the development of
reliable artificial muscles. 

Read the article's preview at:
http://www.newscientisttech.com/channel/tech/mg19125641.400.html

Links:
Nanotech Institute
http://www.nanotech.utdallas.edu/

Fuel Powered Artificial Muscles
http://www.utdallas.edu/chemistry/frg/research.html

UT Dallas Nanotechnologists Demonstrate Artificial Muscles Powered by Highly Energetic Fuels
http://www.nanotech.utdallas.edu/news/2006/artificialmuscles.html
http://biosingularity.wordpress.com/2006/03/20/scientists-demonstrate-artificial-muscles-powered-by-nanotech-fuels/
http://www.roboticstrends.com/displayarticle779.html?POSTNUKESID=1fe072fcf5e4cc9c4779c441e69ca7a7

UTD NanoTech Institute Wins $750,000 Grant For Research on Artificial Muscles
http://www.utdallas.edu/news/archive/2005/darpa-grant.html

Methanol-Powered Muscles Move Artificial Limbs
http://www.devicelink.com/mddi/archive/06/06/017.html