Revolutionary artificial muscles: soft as skin, strong like steel | Generative ai use cases mckinsey | Generative ai financial services mckinsey | Generative ai use cases in banking | Turtles AI

A team of Korean researchers has developed an innovative magnetic composite artificial muscle that can change its stiffness from soft to rigid, showing amazing performance in terms of strength, precision and adaptability. This new material could revolutionize soft robotics and wearable technologies, with applications in various industrial and medical fields.

Key points:

• Artificial muscle that changes stiffness: as soft as skin but as strong as steel.
• Ability to withstand forces 1,000 times its own weight.
• Innovative materials combining shape memory polymers and ferromagnetic particles.
• Over 90% energy efficiency, vibration reduction for optimal control.

A research group at the Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology (UNIST) in South Korea has devised a new type of artificial composite muscle that combines the softness typical of elastic materials with the strength and durability of metals. This advance is based on the combination of two key components: ferromagnetic particles and shape memory polymers. Through this fusion, the muscle is not only able to vary its stiffness quickly and efficiently, but can also respond to external stimuli, such as magnetic fields, heat or light, making it highly versatile and controllable. Ferromagnetic particles, which respond to a magnetic field, are responsible for the force capacity of the artificial muscle, while shape memory polymers are able to change the structure of the muscle from a soft to a stiffer state as needed.

This ability to adapt dynamically to different operational requirements makes artificial muscle particularly attractive for applications in soft robotics, where flexibility and the ability to interact with objects and people in a gentle and precise manner are crucial. In such a context, traditional materials, while very soft and agile, were unable to withstand high loads or maintain precise control. By adopting this new magnetic muscle, researchers were able to bridge this gap, resulting in a material that is not only strong but also extremely controllable. The use of magnetic fields, in fact, allows the muscle to move with impressive speed and precision, similar to that of human muscles, but with a force a thousand times greater than the weight of the material itself.

In terms of mechanical performance, this new muscle is extraordinary: it can withstand tensile loads of 1,000 times its own weight, and withstand compressions of as much as 3,690 times its own weight. Moreover, thanks to its innovative double-layer design, which incorporates a hydrogel layer for vibration absorption, the artificial muscle maintains amazing stability even during fast and repetitive operations. This aspect greatly reduces the risk of errors due to oscillations or inaccuracies in movements, making the muscle very useful for applications in surgical robotics, wearable devices, or industries that require precise and safe handling.

The combination of these high-performance materials also offers another key feature: energy efficiency. Artificial muscle manages to convert 90.9 percent of the energy input into useful work, a performance that could have a significant impact in areas such as industrial robotics, medical devices, or any system that requires an optimized energy source for complex, repetitive tasks. The possibilities for the use of this technology are thus vast and promise to transform the landscape of soft robotics and wearable devices, where adaptability, strength, and precision are essential requirements for improved performance and reliability.

The groundbreaking development of magnetic artificial muscles could mark the beginning of a new era in advanced robotic applications, with an impact extending from industrial to medical technologies, opening new horizons for improved interactions between humans and machines.