A Slightly different tack was taken by B. F. Goodrich in a "rubber muscle" project. If a straight piece of rubber hose with specially wound reinforcing cord is pressurized with a liquid or gas it will bend to form an arc; if more pressure is applied, the curvature increases until…
ROMAC, THE PNEUMATIC MUSCLE Actuator pulls 10,000 pounds using 60 psi A pneumatic actuator based on the principle of the human biceps has come to our attention in the form of a patent disclosure. The ROMAC, under development by MacDonald Detwiller & Associates of Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, works on…
Reference: Science News - March 26, 1988 The Muscular Machinery of Tentacles, Trunks and Tongues Scientists discover a new way for muscles to work By STEFI WEISBURD An arm without bones could not bend. A person who tried to bend such an arm would instead end up with a…
Inventor Nikolai Teleshev watching the operation of an integral robot designed by him. Any further information on this inventor and robot gripper most welcomed.
The arm above is based on an experimental system of pneumatic muscles. Air is forced into the muscle bags, which expand but shrink in length. String tendons link the muscles to the bones, resulting in movement of the limbs. The robot was developed by The Original Android Company [RH-2012-Now…
Pouch-Type Artificial Muscle (1970) An artificial muscle, which would serve as a rotational actuator for prostheses, was developed. It was made of double boards connected by a hinge and an airtight rubber pouch the expansion of which was constrained by nylon so as to generate torque around the hinge. Dr.…
Artists concept of the Lunar Worm, showing a large, crawling Pneumatic bellows shelter, and a smaller transport vehicle with side-by-side circular bellows. The crawling motion is not gained by pumping fluid (air) in or out of the bellow segments, but uses a mechanical travelling-wave connected to the pneumatic-bellows structure.…
Although "fluidic actuators" had been around for a long time prior to Joseph Laws McKibben's invention, none had been used previously for prosthetic applications, yet alone robotics. It was McKibben's use that coined the term "Artificial Muscle". Joe McKibben talks about his invention: More Help For Polio Victims To bring motion to his…
Rear view. Concept models. Concept models. Concept models. Concept models. Propellor protection. Prop actually swivels up and down to give ground clearance or motive power. [Source: All the above images - Life 1948] [Source: Mechanix Illustrated - March 1948] [Source: Popular Mechanics - May 1948] [Source: Popular Science - May 1948]…
The earliest known actual walking dragline was from Ransomes & Rapier 1939 using the patented Cameron and Heath walking method. Model W170, it had a 4-yard bucket. TRACTION OR PROPULSION MECHANISM OF THE WALKING TYPE - Cameron et al. Colin McLeod Cameron and Alfred Thomas Heath British Patent 320,223 Granted…