We all know that the
nuclear power we use today
for electricity, ships, and
submarines is utilized in the
same way as we use coal
and gas to produce
electricity: by boiling water
to drive a steam turbine. I
never saw Steve Austin
spouting steam as he ran
along at 60 MPH, nor water
dripping out of his right
elbow as he lifted a car.
Even the one ton (on Earth)
multi-billion dollar Mars Science
Laboratory, Curiosity obtains only
125 watts of electricity from its
radioisotope thermoelectric
generator (RTG) shown in Figure
13, which is powered by 11
pounds of decaying hot
plutonium-238 dioxide.
The main advantage of
nuclear fission reactors or
decaying radioactive isotopes to
produce electric power is that
they last for years on just a small
amount of fuel for the needed
heat. As a side note, the US has
only 12 pounds of Pu238
remaining, so, let’s just forget this
type of power for robots. Power
capacity and density is still the
Achilles’ heel of today’s robots.
There is Real Progress
in Robot Hand
Development
With all these negative thoughts
put aside on robot hand
capabilities, there is real
progress being accomplished
in robot hand development.
I’m not referring to sci-fi
atomic-powered robots, but
actual robot prostheses for
use on humans or by robots
to simulate human hands. The
hands shown in Figure 14
University of Washington
illustrate the ultimate goal of
completely replacing human
hands with robotic
equivalents. These are considered the
most detailed and kinematically
accurate biomimetic anthropomorphic
robotic hands in that they function
and appear the same as human
hands.
The hand shown in Figure 15 is
the i-Limb Ultra Rev 3 by Touch Bionics
SERVO 09.2016 65
Figure 14. Robot hands by Zhe Xu of the
University of Washington, as seen on the IEEE
Figure 15. i-Limb Ultra Rev 3 by Touch Bionics
controlled by a mobile app or the wearer's muscle’s
impulses.
Figure 13. MSL Curiosity's RTG protruding out the back of
the Mars rover.
MOVE MAKE YOUR MACHINE
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