Microactuator

Engineers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and at the University of California, Berkeley have created microscale actuators (electrical motors) that are thinner than a human hair and, when bundled, form flexible “muscles” for micro-robots.  Vanadium dioxide, because it shows unusual electronic behavior when heated by a small current, is the material that conveys the flexibility.  MORE

Image Credit: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Robotic Trends.com