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Subject-specific Musculoskeletal Model for Studying Bone Strain During Dynamic Motion
Published on: April 11, 2018
Musculoskeletal actuators with programmable morphology and tunable dynamics
Shiwei Xu1, Chuanqi Zang1,2, Zhenjia Tang1
1Applied Mechanics Laboratory, Department of Engineering Mechanics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P.R. China.
Science Advances
|July 29, 2026
Summary
Researchers developed novel artificial musculoskeletal actuators for small, untethered morphable robots. These actuators enable dual programmability in morphology and dynamics, advancing embodied intelligence for complex locomotion tasks.
Area of Science:
- Robotics and Artificial Intelligence
- Materials Science and Engineering
- Biomimetics and Bio-inspired Design
Background:
- Morphable robots offer advanced locomotion capabilities by mimicking natural species.
- Miniaturization of untethered morphable robots is hindered by the lack of flexible actuators with programmable morphology and dynamics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop artificial musculoskeletal actuators for small-scale morphable robots.
- To enable dual programmability of both morphology and dynamics in actuators.
- To overcome limitations in miniaturizing untethered morphable robots.
Main Methods:
- Constructed artificial musculoskeletal actuators using serially connected morphable skeleton modules and stiffness-tunable muscle modules.
- Engineered muscle modules with multilayer PDMS-based dielectric elastomer and electrothermally actuated shape memory polymer.
- Designed geometrically sophisticated actuators to replicate complex biological dynamic behaviors.
Main Results:
- Achieved dual programmability in morphology and dynamics for small-scale actuators.
- Demonstrated modulation of resonant frequency, vibration amplitude, and actuation force.
- Successfully created untethered robots mimicking sugar glider locomotion and morphable robots with quadruped and humanoid modes.
Conclusions:
- The proposed artificial musculoskeletal actuators are effective for creating miniaturized, untethered morphable robots.
- These actuators enable complex, multimodal locomotion by programming both physical form and dynamic behavior.
- The technology shows significant promise for advanced robotics applications requiring adaptability and embodied intelligence.
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