Chinese scientists build robot fish that could pave the way for low-cost prosthetic muscles
- Researchers created an artificial muscle using liquid metal that allows it to expand and contract
- The technology could be used to help paralysed people or develop nano vessels that swim through the body to administer drugs
Scientists have created a robot fish that swims using a low-cost artificial muscle that could one-day be used to develop prosthetic limbs.
The researchers, from the University of Science and Technology of China, hope that the technique – which uses liquid metal to mimic natural muscle movements — could also help to administer drugs inside the body and underwater drones.
The muscle is made using gallium, a silvery metal that has a low melting point and can be turned to liquid simply by being held in the hand.
In the study, it was mixed with other metals to form an alloy with a melting point below room temperature, the researchers wrote in the journal Advanced Materials.
“Because it is a liquid, it can be transformed into different shapes with greater flexibility than solid metals, although not without limitations,” said co-author Zhang Shiwu, professor of precision machinery and precision instrumentation at the University of Science and Technology of China.
“The metal can contract and extend like human muscles. We use a low voltage to drive it. In the future, we will look into more muscle movements so that the liquid muscles will become more like that of humans.”