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Robotics

Breakthrough in artificial muscles promises to revolutionize the robotics industry

Thursday, June 10, 2004
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...)
Tags: robotics, humanoid robot, electroactive polymers


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How do you a build the musculoskeletal system a humanoid robot? If you're Sony, you use a system of servo motors, gears, metal rods and cables. But that's a poor imitation of the human body where the movement of limbs is dictated by the smooth, coordinated contraction of muscle fibers. Enter the breakthrough: electroactive polymers, also called artificial muscles. Recently unveiled by a scientist in Albuquerque, these artificial muscles contract when exposed to an electric current. Attach one end to the pelvis of a humanoid robot and the other end to the back of its knee and you have a robot that can do leg curls. Strap together enough such fibers, couple them with a smart contact feedback system, and you can teach a robot to walk using its own artificial muscles.

Imagine it: no motors to wear out, no cables to snap, no rods to break: just muscle-like fibers that contract in response to an electric current. It's nothing short of a revolution in robotics. No doubt, the industry will rely heavily on this technology in the years ahead. There's even hope that such fibers might somehow be used in human patients to aid those who have, for one reason or another, lost the use of their limbs.

In a creepy sort of way, these new artificial muscles are now about to be put to the test in an arm wrestling contest with high school students. As part of an upcoming contest hosted by NASA, high school students will go hand-to-hand with an artificial forearm powered by these electroactive polymers. Assuming the robotic arm doesn't rip the limbs off these students (Terminator, anyone?), this P.R. event should serve up some much-needed public interest in robotics.


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About the author:Mike Adams (aka the "Health Ranger") is a best selling author (#1 best selling science book on Amazon.com) and a globally recognized scientific researcher in clean foods. He serves as the founding editor of NaturalNews.com and the lab science director of an internationally accredited (ISO 17025) analytical laboratory known as CWC Labs. There, he was awarded a Certificate of Excellence for achieving extremely high accuracy in the analysis of toxic elements in unknown water samples using ICP-MS instrumentation. Adams is also highly proficient in running liquid chromatography, ion chromatography and mass spectrometry time-of-flight analytical instrumentation.

Adams is a person of color whose ancestors include Africans and Native American Indians. He's also of Native American heritage, which he credits as inspiring his "Health Ranger" passion for protecting life and nature against the destruction caused by chemicals, heavy metals and other forms of pollution.

Adams is the founder and publisher of the open source science journal Natural Science Journal, the author of numerous peer-reviewed science papers published by the journal, and the author of the world's first book that published ICP-MS heavy metals analysis results for foods, dietary supplements, pet food, spices and fast food. The book is entitled Food Forensics and is published by BenBella Books.

In his laboratory research, Adams has made numerous food safety breakthroughs such as revealing rice protein products imported from Asia to be contaminated with toxic heavy metals like lead, cadmium and tungsten. Adams was the first food science researcher to document high levels of tungsten in superfoods. He also discovered over 11 ppm lead in imported mangosteen powder, and led an industry-wide voluntary agreement to limit heavy metals in rice protein products.

In addition to his lab work, Adams is also the (non-paid) executive director of the non-profit Consumer Wellness Center (CWC), an organization that redirects 100% of its donations receipts to grant programs that teach children and women how to grow their own food or vastly improve their nutrition. Through the non-profit CWC, Adams also launched Nutrition Rescue, a program that donates essential vitamins to people in need. Click here to see some of the CWC success stories.

With a background in science and software technology, Adams is the original founder of the email newsletter technology company known as Arial Software. Using his technical experience combined with his love for natural health, Adams developed and deployed the content management system currently driving NaturalNews.com. He also engineered the high-level statistical algorithms that power SCIENCE.naturalnews.com, a massive research resource featuring over 10 million scientific studies.

Adams is well known for his incredibly popular consumer activism video blowing the lid on fake blueberries used throughout the food supply. He has also exposed "strange fibers" found in Chicken McNuggets, fake academic credentials of so-called health "gurus," dangerous "detox" products imported as battery acid and sold for oral consumption, fake acai berry scams, the California raw milk raids, the vaccine research fraud revealed by industry whistleblowers and many other topics.

Adams has also helped defend the rights of home gardeners and protect the medical freedom rights of parents. Adams is widely recognized to have made a remarkable global impact on issues like GMOs, vaccines, nutrition therapies, human consciousness.

In addition to his activism, Adams is an accomplished musician who has released over a dozen popular songs covering a variety of activism topics.

Click here to read a more detailed bio on Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, at HealthRanger.com.

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