Researchers Create Robot Skeleton With Human-Like Muscles

In the hunt to create the ultimate cyborg researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology have unveiled a robot which uses human-like muscles to move.

The robot has been, rather worryingly, built over a human skeleton and shows a network of microfilament muscle “tissues” which are able to accurately able to mimic human movements.
TOKYO INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY


What makes them really scary is that the researchers have created the muscles as an almost exact replica of our own muscle groups, allowing them to contract and expand just as you would your own limbs.

The team even went so far as to try and mimic the muscle groups in the jaw, which they did to worrying effect:
TOKYO INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY


Ok so this robot isn’t going to be winning any 100m contests anytime soon, but what it does show is that we both have the technology and understanding to use our own biology to shape the future of robotics, and in particular humanoid robots.

At the moment the team’s prototype is still very much a prototype, so much so in fact that it can’t walk without being held up.

We’re going to regret saying this but we can’t wait to see what they come up with next.
Robots In 2016: These Are The Robots And Drones That Will Change Our Lives