rocket propelled robot arm

[Admin]

Apparently this is the lower half of a robot arm entirely propelled by miniature rocket motors.

Video is here (click the top left image for a video pop-up):
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/exploration/stories/bionicarm.html

Im thinking the arm is really loud, although they dont say . . .

specs:

The mechanical arm mechanical arm with a miniature rocket motor can lift (curl) about 20 to 25 pounds, three to four times more than current commercial arms, and can do so three to four times faster.

but dont expect to make one on your own:

Goldfarb?s power source is about the size of a pencil and contains a special catalyst that causes hydrogen peroxide to burn produce pure steam which is used to open and close a series of valves.

The valves are connected to the spring-loaded joints by belts made of a special monofilament used in appliance handles and aircraft parts and a small sealed canister of hydrogen peroxide that easily fits in the upper arm can provide enough energy to power the device for 18 hours of normal activity.

By covering the hottest parts with special insulating plastic, they were able to reduce surface temperatures enough so they are safe to touch and the steam exhaust is vented through a porous cover, where it evaporates like natural perspiration.

The valves also require an insane precision of 100-millionths of an inch . . .

[ed1380]

shweet

[awally88]

It almost makes me want to cut my arm off so I can get one of these!

[bukowski]

wow, "burning hydrogen peroxide to produce pure steam".
We could see the beginning of minature steam engines like this in all types of applications.

[DomoArigato]

I build a hydrogen peroxide powered engine once.  The difficulty with it is that it decays rapidly, and that makes is difficult to store and manage.  Lots of metals, organic materials, and even just light will turn it into water.