“The tendon-enhanced gripper moved three times faster and with 30 times more force than one powered by muscle alone.”
MIT engineers attached flexible hydrogel tendons to lab-grown muscle, creating biohybrid robots that move far more effectively than previous attempts. A robotic gripper using the system worked smoothly for over 7,000 contraction cycles with an eleven-fold improvement in power-to-weight ratio. Earlier this year, the same lab developed artificial muscle that flexes in multiple directions, mimicking how the human iris dilates. Because muscle cells grow stronger with exercise and heal after injury, future biohybrid robots could adapt and repair themselves in environments too dangerous for humans.