Novel robot actuators leveraging the molecular mechanics and topology of biological muscle

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Current legged robots are unable to cope with the demands of complex coordination and control needed to succeed and assist in real-world, personal, and collaborative applications which require operation in unstructured settings such as homes, workplaces, cities, or wild natural environments. A crucial limiting factor to the realization of real-world deployable robots are the actuators which drive and enable their every movement. The deficiency in robotic actuation has been a widely recognized problem over the last few decades leading to demand for more efficient, dynamic, and powerful actuators to dramatically improve the capabilities of legged robotic systems, however, existing technology remains insufficient for desired and necessary requirements. The principle aim of this research program is to lead an entirely new approach to robotic actuator design by developing actuators that function much like biological muscles, which generate continuous, large-scale forces and displacements through combined work of many small-scale, discrete actuations at the molecular level. In order to leverage and amplify the relatively small effect of the small sub-actuations, the force generating mechanisms in muscle (myosin proteins) operate in high-frequency cycles, and while parallel and series arrangement of sub-actuators enables higher forces and shortening velocities. Muscle inspired actuators developed in this research program will leverage a comparable modular and highly redundant architecture of small-scale, cyclic actuation mechanisms to produce macro-scale actuation. At the sub-actuator level, different actuation techniques, including more conventional electromagnetics and pneumatics, or new force-generating functional, smart materials may be used to produce reciprocating strokes which can drive a larger muscle-inspired actuator. This actuation scheme also directly facilitates near zero-impedance back-drivability, allowing the exploitation of natural system dynamics for increasing peak power and improving energetic efficiency in locomotion and other control tasks. This feature also enables mechanical transparency and passive compliance essential for applications demanding biomechanical compatibility and safety, such as force-assisting or augmenting wearable robotic devices. This program will investigate different methods for exploiting these and other exciting advantages of a new paradigm in robotic actuator construction that diverges from traditional approaches. This novel, bioinspired design strategy holds unique potential to surpass the performance limits of existing actuators while simultaneously delivering new robot capabilities key to their success in more personal and proximal service applications. As future robot design requirements expand to meet new challenges in the dynamic and unpredictable real-world, this research initiative offers a vital pathway to extending and advancing the limits of robot capabilities in new directions.