The drawback to McKibbon air-muscles is the requirement for an air pump and storage, and a solenoid or other valve for each actuator. These rigid components take up space and add cost. I have wondered why there hasn't been any move to using electrorheological or magnetorheological fluids as the working fluid in a McKibbon-like system. "-Rheological" in this case refers to the fluid's tendency to thicken to a great extent when exposed to an electrical or magnetic field respectively. A viable system could possibly be developed by creating a "circulatory" system that pumps fluid _through_ the muscle at all times. When it needs to actuate, a coil at one end could thicken the fluid, creating a plug that acts as a two-way valve. I admit, this idea has its own flaws to overcome, and isn't _that_ much less complex than the standard, but it does avoid some of the reliance on rigid valve systems.
Genius doesn't lie in using big words or complex ideas. Genius is being able to communicate those complex ideas in a way that anyone can understand. That is true genius. Thanks Rob
To use the wind, one should treat it much like a bass violin where some kind of friction is drawn across it. In theory, depending on what kind of string, and how many coils one is using, there could potentially also be some electrostatic potential. A similar way to make the vibration is with a fire-bow and rubber wheel where the tree waves back and forth, pulling on one end of the bow, and the wheel causing frictional vibrations, either directly to the coil, or to a hinged lever against the coil, so as to invoke high frequency vibrations. I'm thinking that many materials will just develop power from the strain effect too.
I remember treating rubber bands with a special liquid from a local hobby store for rubber band motors on model aircraft. It facilitated the super coiling to produce a more constant power for the complete run of the rubber band motor. I recall that the formula caused the rubber shrink. Never thought of it to an artificial muscle. Rubber electrolyte?
Super vid mate, I was always impressed with how much power it took to push a Childs rubber ball under water in the pool and how much potential energy is available when released, harnessing that power would be astonishing! pumping balls up under water is the way forward.
This kind of device could also have the secondary benefit of dampening the vibration that wears down high traffic bridge structures. Using the wear & tear on the metal work as a driver for a vibrational generator would reduce the energy transferred into the bridge itself & lighting it to boot.
The dexterity that artificial muscles give to robotic hands is fascinating. It reminds me of Jordan Wolfson's totally creepy dancing witch art installation (there's videos of it on RU-vid but beware they're a bit risque!). To this day, I've never seen robotic hands move with such fluidity. I wonder how he achieved it?
I had already tried the wind one and for some reason now it made me think of a bicycle wheel, where the super springs converge on a magnet in the center and put piezoelectrics on the outside, would it work? It may be very complex for such a small generation but I love this. I collect rainwater in 3 IBC tanks... perhaps something like what you showed would be generated when said tanks were filled. sorry for the mix of ideas love what you do thank you thank you thank you for sharing so much
And just when I thought I had an original idea, you tell me that this is established and already far more sophisticated than anything I have dreamed up
Fascinating possibilities. I have a question for you Rob that could ignite a debate regarding power generation. I know there's lots of scams about but if you created or someone let you verify in anyway you wanted a device that could generate an abundance of "free" abundant energy for all, would you share it or would you have concerns sharing something that could potentially attract unwanted attention?
@@ShafaqIftikhar-pw9ldWell, Id say its not about just sharing it on the internet in general as much as it is sharing it with the right individuals first. Some kind of trusted network that can justly broadcast and replicate the information out there. Because trust me, if the information has real value and weight behind it things can be scrubbed from the internet very easily if not done right. Only real problem is, not quite sure how many like that are truely out there. How many will remain uncompromised when their integrity is tested? Censorship is already pretty common enough in the mainstream net as it is.
Looks also very much like a reverb tank from a guitar amp (or Hammond organ). Which is very cool. The bits that i find fascinating is the artificial muscle application possibilities, and the "super-coil" effect from twisting the nylon string
I’ve been obsessed with the idea of artificial muscles ever since I read that article about the twisted fishing line about a decade ago. One of the first things I wondered was whether or not it could be used to generate energy. But what I am most fascinated with is the idea of weaving those twisted lines together into complex patterns. It could be made into 3D woven objects, it could be woven into a shape that could mimic human movement or helps aid movement. Who knows maybe they will make soft exoskeletons from the idea. Help paralyzed people, workers who lift heavy objects, and soldiers who haul around heavy gear. Not supposed to give super strength, but increase endurance.
I recalled watching these videos a while back, and thinking about some ideas for building prothetics or exoskeletons using artifical muscles. I can see a hybrid type of build devised in a way in such that these muscles act as both an input and output system. The power generated would be used as a feedback loop that helps sustain its own power operations, or at the very least feed additional power back into the system to optimize its power systems for more efficiency. The potential is very vast here.
if you are wanting these as cheap harvesters for lasting structures. You will want to make sure the cheap part is placed in something that can be easily swapped out for when it is no longer functioning. because the act of maintenance is a expense, both in $ and energy.
I love the whole presentation at the beginning. But just a small snag if you show other peoples content its usually polite to include a credit for the creator as well just a small detail but reallt cool video as always.
Actually i came up with this idea in 1996 --- just used peroxide and a catalyst as a source of steam .... so ne need for a pump more baloons = more resiliency - got the idea when i watched robocop and wanted to build a robot like him ... between the balloons put veins of automatic tire sealant .. can shoot it and it will "bleed" and auto seal ; )
I was astounded to see that 1.25 kilo weight lifted by you blowing into a balloon, there are some amazing possible free energy devices that can use this I am thinking of a lot of possibilities.
have you seen gathering air pressure from tidal waves? as the artificial mussels are simple perhaps they would be less maintenance then win fans used, but the high volume low pressure would need to be converted to high pressure low volume by a long tapering pipe and 1 way doors.
3:09 Would having multiple layers or smaller individual "muscles" bound together to form a larger muscle make sense? The idea would be that more variability means more ability to "tune" it to act like a true muscle.
Hi Robert - I have been working on something for a few years - but I need a highly flexible, but STRONG "balloon" or rubber material - I was thinking of using a bike tube - do you know of anything I could use? Really struggling. Surgical latex tubing not flexible enough (needs to expand a fair bit)
We need to eject the battery and find more biologically inspired ways, we need artificial biological muscles. Batteries are heavy, and moving electrons around at long distances is to costly. We also need neuron inspired information processing, as moving electrons to and from memory is slow and costly, we need to keep important factors like (information, and processing of information) close together, optimizing and performance is just greater when considering pound for pound considerations. In fact, show me where you disagree, and I'll show you where you are wrong.
