NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL MUSCLE ELEMENTS AS ROBOT ACTUATORS

The performance of actuators is critical in determining the strength, speed of motion, power, response rate, compactness and, in many cases, the compliance exhibited by robots. Unfortunately, present drive syst ems seldom achieve these demands, and they will be further constrained by future generations of autonomous or semi-autonomous robots. This p aper considers the requirements for a truly flexible actuation system and power source, using natural animal muscle as a basis for specifica tion of future actuator performance characteristics. Based on these re quirements the potential of a chemically stimulated polymeric actuatio n system; which, on a macroscopic scale replicates muscle action, is a ppraised for use as a drive unit for a robotic gripper.