But until now, no one has ever tried to harness the phenomenon to power a machine. Hugh Herr and his colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Biomechatronics group built themselves a robotic fish. Inside it, a microprocessor sends electric signals to frog muscles on either side of the fish, making them contract. The muscles get their energy from the glucose solution the fish is swimming in. One of Herr's aims is to power prosthetic limbs with real muscles.
Artificial limbs have a tendency to be much stiffer than real ones.
They are not able to adapt to different surfaces, so they behave the same way whether you are walking on cement or sand. The Prototype limbs that are capable of thrust contain noisy joint motors. Researchers are attempting to make better prosthetics using artificial muscles made from polymer fibers. These muscles are strong and silent, and contract when a voltage is applied. Real muscle can adapt to its environment, it can heal itself, it can self-regulate.