First robot moved by muscle power

March 1, 2004 | Source: NewScientist.com news

A silicon microrobot just half the width of a human hair has begun to crawl around in a Los Angeles lab, using legs powered by the pulsing of living heart muscle. It is the first time muscle tissue has been used to propel a micromachine.

The development could lead to muscle-based nerve stimulators that would allow paralysed people to breathe without the help of a ventilator. And NASA which is funding the research hopes swarms of crawling “musclebots” could one day help maintain spacecraft by plugging holes made by micrometeorites.