Idea No. 15: Robotic Muscle Fiber
Modern robots are big, heavy and powerful. In many ways, they are designed to simulate what we already see as functional: hands, wrists, arms, elbows, feet, ankles, legs, knees, thighs, joints, hips, etc. Components that simulate these are common in the field of robotics. It is our nature to simulate the whole. But what if we stop a bit, step back a little and start small again?
In software development, the ability to create something big starts with something small. These small software components can be put together to create a big software product, until a system is built to accomplish complex tasks. This approach works well. So, what if we use that same practice in hardware development?
Consider in robotics that there are already a lot of small components developed that can work together as a system of mechanisms to, for example, simulate the hand, an entire hand. Or say perhaps a finger. Or a joint. But then again, what if we can start smaller? Much, much smaller...
Think about perfecting a single robotic muscle fiber (RMF) that can become the building blocks of a robotic muscle tissue (RMT), and later a complex robotic muscle group (RMG), perhaps like the bicep, the triceps, or the entire gluteus maximus, or even robotic organs.
Let's just say, for example, that we want to create a single RMF with the following characteristics: can store its own energy, has enough smarts to know its contraction states and limitations, and capable of communicating its state to the other RMFs linked to it. When linked in to an RMT, the robotic parts can make collective decisions based on their collective knowledge of their collective states.
An RMF's physical design can be a simple strand-like robot that can "remember and communicate" its contracted and relaxed state. It can be told to change state or to react accordingly based on "muscle memory". Simple signals can be used to trigger or cause specific states.
A mastery of different RMF shapes and sizes can help create many types of RMTs. Combinations of RMTs can lead to RMGs and/or robotic organs. Each RMF can be imagined as a tiny ML/AI robot that's a master of its own capabilities: to contract or relax, to react to stimulus and to communicate its state. Small, simple and smart.
In software development, the ability to create something big starts with something small. These small software components can be put together to create a big software product, until a system is built to accomplish complex tasks. This approach works well. So, what if we use that same practice in hardware development?
Consider in robotics that there are already a lot of small components developed that can work together as a system of mechanisms to, for example, simulate the hand, an entire hand. Or say perhaps a finger. Or a joint. But then again, what if we can start smaller? Much, much smaller...
Think about perfecting a single robotic muscle fiber (RMF) that can become the building blocks of a robotic muscle tissue (RMT), and later a complex robotic muscle group (RMG), perhaps like the bicep, the triceps, or the entire gluteus maximus, or even robotic organs.
Let's just say, for example, that we want to create a single RMF with the following characteristics: can store its own energy, has enough smarts to know its contraction states and limitations, and capable of communicating its state to the other RMFs linked to it. When linked in to an RMT, the robotic parts can make collective decisions based on their collective knowledge of their collective states.
An RMF's physical design can be a simple strand-like robot that can "remember and communicate" its contracted and relaxed state. It can be told to change state or to react accordingly based on "muscle memory". Simple signals can be used to trigger or cause specific states.
A mastery of different RMF shapes and sizes can help create many types of RMTs. Combinations of RMTs can lead to RMGs and/or robotic organs. Each RMF can be imagined as a tiny ML/AI robot that's a master of its own capabilities: to contract or relax, to react to stimulus and to communicate its state. Small, simple and smart.
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