Biodegradable artificial muscles to improve soft robotics

Scientists across Germany, Austria and the U.S. say their biodegradable artificial muscles could improve the field of soft robotics.

Researchers from Stuttgart, Germany; Linz Austria; and Boulder, Colorado, said artificial muscles could one day enable robots to function like living organisms. These muscles may create new possibilities for the way in which robots shape the world. However, their focus revolves around the environmental impact of these muscles for these robots.

The team includes researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS) in Stuttgart, the Johannes Kepler University (JKU) in Linz and the University of Colorado, Boulder. They collaborated to design a fully biodegradable, high-performance artificial muscle, based on gelatin, oil and bioplastics. Used to animate a robotic gripper, this muscle demonstrates usefulness in single-use deployments. After use, they can be disposed of in municipal compost bins. Under monitored conditions, they fully biodegrade within six months, the researchers say.

The researchers published their findings in a paper titled “Biodegradable electrohydraulic actuators for sustainable soft robots.” Ellen Rumley, a visiting scientist from CU Boulder (working in robotic materials at MPI-IS) served as co-first author.

“We see an urgent need for sustainable materials in the accelerating field of soft robotics,” Rumley said. “Biodegradable parts could offer a sustainable solution especially for single-use applications, like for medical operations, search-and-rescue missions, and manipulation of hazardous substances. Instead of accumulating in landfills at the end of product life, the robots of the future could become compost for future plant growth.” Medical Design & Outsourcing