Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Campaign have successful created mini-robots powered by living muscle tissue.

The team behind the muscle-powered robots is led by Professor Rashid Bashir. They initially created a robot using rats' heart cells but this turned out to be a bad idea since heart cells automatically contract. 

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They then developed a different series of robots that were powered by a strip of skeletal muscle. This muscle can be controlled using an electric pulse, thereby making it relatively easy to program the robot.

The present robot prototype can only move in only one direction. The team is working to enable the robot to move in other directions, too. 

They plan to give the robot a highly flexible backbone that will help it turn. They also plan to give the robot neurons that will allow them to control the robot using chemical or light gradients. 

The  muscle-power robots can be used in a diverse applications such as environmental surveying and medicine.  

A robot is generally built by using several parts. Despite using the best mechanical designs and structures, robots are not very efficient and are unable to work well on uneven terrain.

On the other hand, if robots were to use actual human muscles, they would be able to get around more conveniently and with higher precision. 

The team said a robot made completely from actual muscles is quite a long way off but believes they've made sufficient progress in this direction with their mini robots powered by muscle tissue.

TagsRobots, Muscle Powered Robots