A rocket-powered bionic arm has been successfully developed and tested by a team of mechanical engineers at Vanderbilt University as part of a $30 million military program to develop advanced prosthetic devices for next generation of super-soldiers.
The mechanical arm mechanical arm with a miniature rocket motor can lift (curl) about 20 to 25 pounds, three to four times more than current commercial arms, and can do so three to four times faster.
“That means it has about 10 times as much power as other arms despite the fact that the design hasn’t been optimized yet for strength or power,” Michael Goldfarb, the professor of mechanical engineering who is leading the effort, said.
Tests show that the mechanical arm also functions more naturally than previous models.
Batteries don't hold enough energy for their weight.
At a certain point, the weight of the batteries required to provide the energy to operate the arm for a reasonable period becomes a problem, and it was this poor power-to-weight ratio of the batteries that drove Goldfarb to look for alternatives while working on an exoskeleton project for DARPA.
Goldfarb’s power source is about the size of a pencil and contains a special catalyst that causes hydrogen peroxide to burn produce pure steam which is used to open and close a series of valves.
The valves are connected to the spring-loaded joints by belts made of a special monofilament used in appliance handles and aircraft parts and a small sealed canister of hydrogen peroxide that easily fits in the upper arm can provide enough energy to power the device for 18 hours of normal activity.
It's Steampunk! real life trumps fiction once again.
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