US boffins demo steampunk artificial arm • The Register
21 Aug 2007 ... Prosthetic robot arms have been on something of a technological plateau for a while. ... decades ago, but other than that the limbs have stayed relatively primitive. ... "We have made so much progress and gotten such positive ...
US boffins demo steampunk artificial arm • The Register Skip to content Whitepapers | Reg Hardware | Channel Reg Hardware Software Music & Media Networks Security Cloud Public Sector Business Science Odds & Sods Environment Biology Physics Space SPB PARIS Rise of the Machines™ US boffins demo steampunk artificial arm Only a slight chance of explosion or toxic armpit cloud By Lewis Page • Get more from this author Posted in Physics, 21st August 2007 13:35 GMT Free whitepaper – 2011 Lippis Report American researchers may have revolutionised the field of artificial limbs by adopting a new power source formerly used mainly in torpedoes and rockets. Prosthetic robot arms have been on something of a technological plateau for a while. Myo-electrics - in which functions can be controlled by muscle movement in the remaining limb - came in decades ago, but other than that the limbs have stayed relatively primitive. Now, however, due in part to the substantial numbers of Western troops severely injured in Southwest Asian fighting, fresh ideas are circulating. New methods of control, perhaps better or more flexible than ordinary myo-electrics, are under consideration, and rather than essentially being a powered claw, much better-articulated limbs are being developed. Some of these initiatives have been funded by DARPA (Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency), the occasionally somewhat foam-lipped US death-boffin outfit. Only one thing has been lacking - new power sources to drive the more sophisticated limbs under development. Fit young men - and most milita ...