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【技术产业】德克萨斯大学达拉斯分校纳米材料
Muscles for prosthetic limbs, autonomous robots and smart surfaces reported in the March 17 issue of the presitigious journal Science
University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) nanotechnologists have made alcohol- and hydrogen-powered artificial muscles that are 100 times stronger than natural muscles, able to do 100 times greater work per cycle and produce, at reduced strengths, larger contractions than natural muscles. Among other possibilities, these muscles could enable fuel-powered artificial limbs, "smart skins" and morphing structures for air and marine vehicles, autonomous robots having very long mission capabilities and smart sensors that detect and self-actuate to change the environment.
While humans on long, strenuous missions are able to carry the food that powers their bodies, today's most athletically capable robots cannot freely move about, since they are wired to stationary electrical power sources. Though batteries can be used for autonomous robots, they store too little energy and deliver it at too low a rate for prolonged or intense activity. To solve these problems, the team from UTD's NanoTech Institute developed two different types of artificial muscles that, like natural muscles, convert the chemical energy of an energetic fuel to mechanical energy.
The breakthroughs are described in the March 17 issue of the prestigious journal Science.
The development of these revolutionary muscles was motivated by a visit of Dr. John Main from the Defense Advanced Projects Agency (DARPA) to Dr. Ray H. Baughman, Robert A. Welch Professor of Chemistry and director of the UTD NanoTech Institute. During the visit, Main described his visions of a future that could include such advancements as artificial muscles for autonomous humanoid robots that protect people from danger, artificial limbs that act like natural limbs and exoskeletons that provide super-human strength to firefighters, astronauts and soldiers -- all of which are able to perform lengthy missions by using shots of alcohol as a highly energetic fuel.
The new muscles simultaneously function as fuel cells and muscles, according to Baughman, corresponding author of the Science article. A catalyst-containing carbon nanotube electrode is used in one described muscle type as a fuel cell electrode to convert chemical energy to electrical energy, as a supercapacitor electrode to store this electrical energy and as a muscle electrode to transform this electrical energy to mechanical energy. Fuel-powered charge injection in a carbon nanotube electrode produces the dimensional changes needed for actuation due to a combination of quantum mechanical and electrostatic effects present on the nanoscale, Baughman said.
In another of the described artificial muscles -- currently the most powerful type -- the chemical energy in the fuel is converted to heat by a catalytic reaction of a mixture of fuel and oxygen in the air. The resulting temperature increase in this "shorted fuel-cell muscle" causes contraction of a shape memory metal muscle wire that supports this catalyst. Subsequent cooling completes the work cycle by causing expansion of the muscle.
"The shorted fuel cell muscles are especially easy to deploy in robotic devices, since they comprise commercially available shape memory wires that are coated with a nanoparticle catalyst. The major challenges have been in attaching the catalyst to the shape memory wire to provide long muscle lifetimes, and in controlling muscle actuation rate and stroke," said Baughman. "Students and scientists of all ages will be working on optimizing and deploying our artificial muscles, from high school students in our NanoExplorer program to retired technologists in our NanoInventor program."
Patent applications for the artificial muscles are pending. 认领了 高效电池成功驱动人工肌肉
科学杂志3月17日发表文章：为假肢，机器人，漂亮表皮而设计的人工肌肉。
德克萨斯大学达拉斯分校纳米材料科学家研制出酒精和氢为能源的人工肌肉，此种肌肉比天然肌肉收缩力大100倍，一个周期内能完成100倍的工作。此肌肉的出现，实现了人工肢体能源化，漂亮灵巧的皮肤，机器人具有更长的工作能力，检测和随环境自我调节的更加强大。
当人类处于饥饿时，压力可以摄取食物来强壮身体。今天多数有竞争能力的机器人不能自由移动，因为这需要稳定的电力资源。虽然也能用电池，但是他们不能储存太多能量和在紧张活动下传输效率低。为了解决这个问题，来自UTD纳特研究所的梯队发展了两个不同类型的人工肌肉，他们就象天然的肌肉，可以把燃料的化学能量转换为机械能。
该项突破在声望很高的科学杂志三月份17期上发表。
这项肌肉改革性的发展是约翰总裁从DARPA到UTD纳特研究所的参观引发的。在参观期间，总裁描述了他对未来的设想，即可以为自动的机器人设计一个人工肌肉来保护人们脱离危险，人工假肢像自然肢体一样，外骨骼可以为消防人员宇航员和士兵等提供强大的人工力量。所有的这些都能够用酒精作为能源来执行过长的任务。
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作者:admin@医学,生命科学 2011-02-13 17:14
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