麻省理工計算機科學和人工智能實驗室（CSAIL）發布新聞稿稱，該實驗室和哈佛大學維斯生物啟發工程研究所的科學家們在手工折紙的啟發下制造出了人造肌肉，其特點之一是可以讓機器人舉起重量達自身1000倍的物體。

但CSAIL主任丹妮拉·魯斯指出，其潛能還不止于此。她還說這項工作的基礎是她的團隊以往的研究。

魯斯說：“你有可能讓機器人跑得更快，可以讓它飛起來，在水上行走，翻動或抓取物品，這要取決于你給它配備什么樣的外骨骼。”

她解釋說，每塊肌肉都包含一個可壓縮而又堅固的骨骼系統，外面包著一層皮膚。皮膚和骨骼之間以液體填充，液體體積的變化帶來壓力差，壓力差產生張力，從而使肌肉可以在無人干預的情況下運動。這些肌肉只需10分鐘就可制造，而且成本不超過1美元。編程后，這些肌肉就可以做多方向運動，并且已經有過不間斷伸縮好幾天的記錄。

魯斯說：“液體的作用是形成壓力差。像折紙一樣可壓縮的骨骼引導著向外的動作。巨大的力量則源于彈性材料的張力。這有點兒像借助滑輪和杠桿來增大力量。”

這些肌肉的用途相當廣泛。研究者成功地用各類材料做出了多個版本，有金屬彈簧的，也有塑料泡沫的，尺寸也不一而足。魯斯認為，這樣的靈活性意味著此項發明可用于許多領域，比如醫藥，比如建筑，再比如空間探索。

她說：“車間里可以使用柔軟的機器人，以便人和機器人安全互動。我們還可以用配備了此類外骨骼的柔軟機器人來幫助人們做動作。有時候我們可能需要醫用吊帶，現在這條吊帶可以自主運動，而且它真的能帶動你的腿、胳膊或者背部肌肉，讓你隨心所欲的活動。”（財富中文網）

譯者：Charlie?

Scientists from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering created origami-inspired artificial muscles that, among other feats, allow robots to lift objects 1,000 times heavier than they are, according to a release from CSAIL.

The possibilities don’t stop there, explains CSAIL Director Daniela Rus, adding that the work builds upon past research from her team.

“You could get a robot to move faster, you could get a robot to fly, or to move on water, or to roll or to scoop things, depending on what kind of exoskeleton you attach to the robot,” she says.

Each muscle, Rus explains, is made up of a compressible but solid skeletal system, encased by a bag of “skin.” The space between the skin and the skeleton is filled with fluid, and as the volume of fluid changes, alterations in pressure cause tension, which allows the muscles to move without human input. The muscles — which take just 10 minutes and less than $1 to create — can be programmed to move in multiple directions and have been shown to flex uninterrupted for days at a time.

“The fluid is used to create a pressure difference. The origami compressible skeleton regulates the outward motion. And the strong force produced is due to the tension of the flexible material,” Rus explains. “It’s a little bit like using pulleys and levers to amplify force.”

The muscles are also quite versatile. Researchers successfully built versions using a variety of materials, ranging from metal springs to packing foam, and in a wide array of sizes. That flexibility means the inventions could be used in arenas ranging from medicine to architecture to space exploration, Rus says.

“We can have soft robots on the manufacturing floors for safe human-robot interactions. We could also have soft robots with these kinds of exoskeletons helping people with assisted movements,” Rus says. “Maybe you have a sling, and now the sling is active and really stimulates your legs or your arms or your back muscles to get to where you want to be.”