May 1996 Artificial Muscles Potential uses range from medical devices to machines.
Many machines can automate some of the functions of human muscles, but few can mimic the form.
Recent research into polymer-based artificial muscles may soon yield devices that move more like biological organisms. In less than 20 milliseconds, PAN fibers start shrinking. They can decrease in length by 20 percent in two-tenths of a second, about as fast a human muscle. Laboratory tests show that the fibers are strong, too, capable of holding four kilograms per square centimeter. A human bicep maxes out at just over half that.