Artificial muscles for a new generation of lifelike robots | Christoph Keplinger | TEDxMileHigh

Imagine a robot. You’re probably envisioning a clunky, rigid metal object that moves slowly & awkwardly. While robot brains have advanced in recent years, their bodies are still primitive. In this fascinating talk, Christoph Keplinger demonstrates his groundbreaking HASEL artificial muscles & explains why the future of robotics is soft. Christoph Keplinger is an Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, the principal inventor of HASEL artificial muscles, and the co-founder of Artimus Robotics. Originally from Austria, he studied soft matter physics at Johannes Kepler University Linz, before moving to the U.S. to research mechanics and chemistry at Harvard. His interdisciplinary research group works on muscle-mimetic actuators, functional polymers, and energy harvesting. Christoph and his wife are raising their two daughters to be tri-lingual in German, Russian, and English.
Christoph Keplinger is an Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, the principal inventor of HASEL artificial muscles, and the co-founder of Artimus Robotics. Originally from Austria, he studied soft matter physics at Johannes Kepler University Linz, before moving to the U.S. to research mechanics and chemistry at Harvard. His interdisciplinary research group works on muscle-mimetic actuators, functional polymers, and energy harvesting. Christoph and his wife are raising their two daughters to be tri-lingual in German, Russian, and English. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

[@TN-xx4ih]

This is going to change everything. In all the talks TED has hosted, this is in the top 3 and possibly the one with most potential.

[@jasonlatour3403]

I feel like there was a little bit of a slight of hand though.
He starts talking about the effect of electricity on the di-electric (e.g. Maxwell force) but in HASEL muscles the fluid is merely a hydraulic medium.

[@nehalsonawane1042]

This made me cry. This is what I have wanted to work on for sometime. This just strengthens my resolve.

[@rianantony]

Pretty cool

[@sudipdas5960]

OPENING A NEW ERA.

[@4.0.4]

So basically the electricity contracts a pouch of liquid, the liquid presses on the pouch, its pressure contracts it along an axis, and its tensile strength pulls a weight. Doesn't that inherently sound very inefficient? I wish that was mentioned - how much energy is actually lost in the process, its efficiency as a percentage of the input.
Not that I can solve the problem any better, but this still looks like when people thought flying machines would involve flapping wings really fast.

[@mayamaeru]

amazing!!!!!!

[@choup-channel]

This is it!

[@juniordilon]

Imagine the Atlas robot , from boston dinamics, equipede with artificial muscles!

[@mnomadvfx]

It would be drastically lighter to begin with, boosting efficiency out the gate.

[@blinded6502]

@@mnomadvfx Imagine hyper-lightweight androids of the future just leaping onto the building's walls... Just to do some window cleaning or something, idk.

[@vt7180]

Imagine this + graphene on microscopic level

[@mnomadvfx]

Graphene could definitely help with electrodes for the muscle, for reducing weight vs copper if nothing else - the weight of copper cabling and electrodes would add up over something like a full scale humanoid robot.
Not sure if the plastic oil bags could be replaced by graphene to increase electrical efficiency and response though, possibly just mixing graphene flakes in to the plastic mix would improve it.

[@ZenHulk]

This has been built and tested by many of us makers for years and its to many problems, too much energy to get movement, you your robot pretty much have to carry a compressor on its back, more weight kills battery, batteries are what's slowing robot makers.

[@taihatranduc8613]

it's very goood

[@ianrajkumar]

1:40 his video is sped up 3x ... and my setting is always set to 1.5x hahaha

[@gynoidneko1460]

Am I the only one picture real dolls with artificial muscles? No? Just me? OK...

[@amitkrishna5370]

You ain't alone in that

[@ramzykaram296]

Why this video has only 323 likes ?

[@pratikc]

Why do you care?

[@illumiwati4790]

Why don't you make a hand with fingers connected to these muscles and make their way to the live tissue of real muscles which you can move these fingers by moving your real muscles ??

[@boaboy7990]

Why not use a magnetic liquid? Seems pretty simple

[@ELbabotas1]

And would be safer

[@alexzanderroberts995]

heavy.

[@nishantkumar6960]

that be vulnerable to external magnetic forces, I guess

[@facelessdrone]

Because thats very impractical, it takes mountains more power to create a magnet strong enough to rapidly turn on and off and attract a liquid magnet than it would to simply squish a bag

[@gormauslander]

I don't think these contract across a great enough distance yet.

[@jasonlatour3403]

How much do human muscles contract?

[@gormauslander]

@@jasonlatour3403 I have muscles which contract nearly half their length

[@Macatho]

I dunno. You'd have to give me some real-life examples where to use this tech in the next 10 years.
Maybe silent water pumps or silent fans?

[@4.0.4]

You mean EKWB and Noctua? :)

[@official-obama]

HASELnut

[@McDichaelSteve]

Just think if we apply these "muscles" to robotics for amputees. Truly a time to be alive.

[@alexzanderroberts995]

feeling cute, might replace my arm for a new one later

[@sonyagaskell3648]

If it bleets vee con kill it.