00:00This is, as you might have guessed, a robotic leg.
00:07One currently in development by engineers at ETH Zurich and the Max Planck Institute
00:11for Intelligent Systems.
00:12However, it's not using actuators, cogs or other conventional robotics to move, but rather
00:17artificial muscles.
00:19The researchers are calling them electrohydraulics, which use oil-filled plastic bags with conductive
00:23electrodes on either side.
00:25Here's one of the researchers, Thomas Buckner, to explain.
00:28Now, when we activate these muscles, the so-called electrohydraulic actuator sits together,
00:34which means the electrodes come closer and push the oil to the other side of the actuator.
00:41This leads to a contraction and thickening of the muscle, similar to a human muscle.
00:46They add that this type of system also has an antagonistic pairing, similar to the bicep
00:51and tricep in your arm.
00:52They work against each other.
00:54If the biceps contracts, the triceps stretches, and the other way around, the biceps stretches
00:59when the triceps contracts.
01:01Which they say means the system becomes much more energy efficient and more nimble than
01:04traditional motor-driven robotics.
01:06This type of robot is also more adaptive to uneven terrain, letting it respond without
01:11the need for sensors to constantly apply corrections to its movement, with the team adding that
01:15this could one day be used for rescue operations in areas inhospitable for human rescuers.
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