New Plastic Muscles?

As Omninerd previously reported, this year the first ever human vs. machine arm wrestling match occurred in San Diego. What made this match particularly special was not that a 17-year old girl dominated the machines, it was that the machine arms contained no gears, no cams, no shafts, no metal parts whatsoever. The arms were just made of a special plastic called electroactive polymer.

The subject merits attention due to the impressive potential for applications of this material in the future. Developed by NASA, electroactive polymers (EAPs) are flexible materials that are capable of converting energy in the form of electric charge and voltage to mechanical force and movement. EAPs have become a considerable area of research because of the material's tremendous versatility. This wrestling match was an effort to draw attention to EAPs and to demonstrate their potential in biometric applications. EAP's characteristics as springy, durable, quick, forceful and quiet make them very much like human muscles. A lot of research is still needed to start replacing human muscles with EAPs, but that very well could be the future. Before that, though, be on the look out for EAPs in future replacement hearts, satellites, and airplanes. Maybe even Fake Plastic Trees; with all the possibilities, it wears me out.

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