A bioinspired actuator holds promise for combining power, efficiency and versatility not previously possible at the microscale. A team headed by Jakub Kedzierski at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory, United States, has produced a new type of actuator − the microhydraulic stepping actuator (MSA) − based on the operational concepts of biological muscle and stepper motors. The MSA works by integrating surface-tension forces (the result of electrowetting action on scaled droplets) along a thin ribbon, similar to the interaction of actin and myosin filaments in muscle. Although non-optimized and relatively unscaled, the team’s MSA could match the power density of muscle and surpassed the performance of many microactuators. Scaling greatly improved the power density of the new actuator, and 3D arrangements of the scaled MSA cells could lead to powerful, efficient micro- and macroactuators.
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