Authors: Xinzhu Ren, Yuya Morimoto, Shoji Takeuchi
Published: 2025-02-12
DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.adr5512
Source: Full article
Cultured muscle tissue serves as a power source in biohybrid robots that demonstrate diverse motions. However, current designs typically only drive simple substrates on a small scale, limiting flexibility and controllability. To address this, we proposed a biohybrid hand with multijointed fingers powered by multiple muscle tissue actuators (MuMuTAs), bundles of thin muscle tissues. The MuMuTA can provide linear actuation with high contractile force (~8 millinewtons) and high contractile length (~4 millimeters), which can be converted into the flexion of multijointed fingers by a cable-driven mechanism. We successfully powered the biohybrid hand achieving individual control of fingers and a variety of motions using different signaling controls. This study showcases the potential of MuMuTAs as a driving source for advanced biohybrid robotics.