MIT engineers have innovated a method for growing versatile artificial muscle tissue that can twitch and flex in several directions, crucial for biohybrid robots. Traditional artificial muscles typically only pull in one direction, but this advancement enables fabrications that can mimic complex movements, like the iris of an eye. Through a novel stamping approach, they developed a 3D-printed stamp that creates grooves for real muscle cells to grow in. This allows for the contraction of fibers in multiple orientations, marking a significant step forward in robotics technology using biological elements.
The researchers fabricated the artificial iris using a new 'stamping' approach they developed. They 3D-printed a small, handheld stamp patterned with microscopic grooves, each as small as a single cell.
With the iris design, we believe we have demonstrated the first skeletal muscle-powered robot that generates force in more than one direction. That was uniquely enabled by this stamp approach.
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