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Robotics Biotech

Rocket-Powered Bionic Arm Successfully Tested 159

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the inflation-hits-the-6-million-dollar-man dept.
amigoro writes "A rocket-powered bionic arm has been successfully developed and tested by a team of mechanical engineers at Vanderbilt University as part of a $30 million military program to develop advanced prosthetic devices for next generation of super-soldiers."
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Rocket-Powered Bionic Arm Successfully Tested More

Rocket-Powered Bionic Arm Successfully Tested

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  • I for one... (Score:2, Funny)

    by Q-Hack! ( 37846 ) *
    Welcome our new robotic overlords...

    I know, but somebody has to say it.

  • Rocket-Propelled Bionic Arm (Score:5, Funny)

    by Eponymous Bastard ( 1143615 ) on Monday August 20, 2007 @05:38PM (#20298111)
    I first read that as Rocket-Propelled Bionic Arm and thought, what's this? Mazinger Z?

    Then I read it again and, it's not much better. Off to RTFA...

  • I don't know what the rocket adds... (Score:5, Funny)

    by akpoff ( 683177 ) on Monday August 20, 2007 @05:39PM (#20298113) Homepage
    but I'm sure I want one.
    • but I'm sure I want one.

      Surely you didn't read that in a "power enhancement" spam, did you?

      ROCKET PROPEL YOUR MANHOOD WITH BIONIC IMPLANT - As seen on TV!


      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by fractoid ( 1076465 )
        Well, from the sounds of it this has as much in common with rockets as it has with said spam. A rocket isn't "something that has expanding gas" or "something that uses hydrogen peroxide". A rocket is a device for producing thrust by ejecting propulsion mass. "Piston powered" would be more like it.

        Obligatory wiki link excluded since I'm sure you're all smart enough to find it. :P

        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          by sjames ( 1099 )

          It is piston driven, but there is a connection bto rocket power. The catalyst and high-test peroxide fuel mechanism were first developed for rocket propulsion (and are still used in astronaut backpacks for maneuvering).

          So it isn't literally rocket powered but it is rocket technology powered.

    • Re:I don't know what the rocket adds... (Score:5, Informative)

      by Xiph ( 723935 ) on Monday August 20, 2007 @05:55PM (#20298241)
      then take a look at it at the original story [vanderbilt.edu] It's actually a solid state hydrogen peroxide H2O2, it is the steam that drives powers the mechanics.
      I guess it could be considered rocketry in that it's solid to gas transition. Also, it's what the astronauts use in spacewalk jetpacks

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by akpoff ( 683177 )

        then take a look at it at the original story
        What, and deprive other slashdotters the opportunity to post? I think not.

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by AoT ( 107216 )
        Clearly it is the first development towards our steampunk future.

        I for one...

        Um, let's just say I like the steampunk.
        • Not exactly steampunk, but this reminds me of a R&D weapon in a Paranoia RPG adventure: it was a big punching glove with a few rockets around the wirst to add more punch, and a lot of explosive that the unfortunate user would discover only by using it...
        • It may use steam, but as it's not made of brass nor is it powered by coal or lamp oil, I say, it's not steam punk enough. It didn't even say users need to wear goggles, big brass goggles.
      • This is a steam powered artificial limb. It has nothing to do with rocket power (thrust produced by ejecting reaction mass) other than the fuel.
  • Rocket power sounds really keen, except it's extremely inefficient, like under 1%.

    Rocket exhaust is high-velocity, low thrust. For a mechanical arm, you need like 1/100th the velocity, and lots of thrust.

    In other words, rocket powered arms are like trying to drag race with your transmission in like 30'th gear.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Q-Hack! ( 37846 ) *
      I don't think rocket powered is quite correct... looks like they are using a catalyst (sp?) to convert a cold liquid into a hot gas. Then using the gas to power actuators, much like the old steam engines.

       

      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by Eponymous Bastard ( 1143615 )
        Yeah, but a steam engine works by steam created by boiling normal water with an external power source and using the pressure. This works by burning H2O2 which ends up producing steam and then this high-pressure steam is used. It's not external combustion. It's closer to an internal combustion engine, actually.

        I wouldn't call this a rocket, but it does seem to mix rocket engines (for high pressure gas generation) with steam engines (for harnessing high pressure gas). The closest thing I can think of is a car

        • Re:Efficiency, not so much (Score:5, Informative)

          by georgewilliamherbert ( 211790 ) on Monday August 20, 2007 @05:57PM (#20298253)
          The term you are looking for is "Gas Generator".

          Rocket is something that generates gas (usually by combustion or decomposition) and expels it through a nozzle for thrust.

          Gas generator is generic for a device which produces gas. A boiler is a special case (heat + water). There are gas generators in airbags (solid azide chemical reaction), other industrial uses too.

          This just uses decomposing hydrogen peroxide to generate steam. Just another gas generator.
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • I was part of the beta testing group for this arm (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 20, 2007 @05:39PM (#20298123)
    I used it to give myself a dutch rudder, and it was pretty good

  • Super Soldiers (Score:5, Funny)

    by batquux ( 323697 ) on Monday August 20, 2007 @05:41PM (#20298137)
    FTA:

    a miniature rocket motor can lift (curl) about 20 to 25 pounds
    Wow, they'd almost be able to carry a weapon.

    • Disabled vets, anyone? (Score:3, Insightful)

      by graft ( 556969 )
      Didn't it occur to anyone that the reason DARPA might be interested in this is the hundreds of vets with missing limbs who have a need for better prosthetics? The military applications of this technology seems marginal at best. I'm sure DARPA is funding all sorts of military robotics research (in fact, I know they are), but this sure as hell isn't it.

      • Re:Disabled vets, anyone? (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Garridan ( 597129 ) on Monday August 20, 2007 @06:18PM (#20298433)
        No. The Pentagon doesn't give a shit about the vets. Don't you read the news?
        • Indeed, they give about as much of a shit about them as they do their clusterbomb victims. Given time though, and this research should produce faster, stronger soldiers who are much more capable of severing limbs than they were before, expanding the need for the market. Soon there will be civilian versions, to cash in on the victims of the military versions, and the circle is complete. My master will be pleased.

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by cortex ( 168860 )
          I am a member of the Univ. of Utah team working on the neural control part of the DARPA revolutionizing prosthetics projects. I can tell you definitively that this project is solely aimed at helping injured veterans. They have made a point of having the scientists and engineers working on this project meet people who have lost limbs while serving their country. It was very moving and motivational to meet these soldiers in person. I am pretty sure that the technology will also be made available to civili

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by e2d2 ( 115622 )
          Working at Walter Reed for a while during the main Afghanistan operations I can state with confidence that your statement is simply not true. I'm not arguing that there aren't problems with the VA and veterans care, but that does not mean that the military doesn't care about vets. Not caring would be telling them to fuck off when they get injured.

          Who does more research into Neuro-science and prosthetics than the DOD? They tend to have a lot of spinal/head injury victims/amputees and hence do a lot of work i

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by CastrTroy ( 595695 )
        While I think it would be great for them to give soldiers some of their limbs back, if even in limited form, It seems that these appendages won't quite give them back what they once had for many years to come. How long until they can curl 50 lbs. How long until they have enough control to play video games, or type, or even just operate a remote control. Seems to me the 30 million would be better spent researching ways to stops getting into so many wars.
        • how about for the people injured in car accidents, work place injuries, and what not? there's a whole host of reasons people may loose their limbs before you even begin comtemplating military service. i'm sure they all would like an effective prosthetic arm too.

        • Re:Disabled vets, anyone? (Score:4, Insightful)

          by phantomlord ( 38815 ) on Monday August 20, 2007 @08:18PM (#20299261) Journal

          Seems to me the 30 million would be better spent researching ways to stops getting into so many wars.
          You do realize that emergency medicine (ie, that trauma center at your local hospital), plastic/reconstructive surgery, prosthetics, etc all have their roots in military need, don't you? If your kid is born with a facial deformity, be glad that somewhere along the line, soldiers had their face rebuilt after taking severe wounds. If you get stabbed in the park, be glad that the military devised a method of mobilizing, classifying, and treating wounds. If you get in an accident and completely shatter your foot beyond repair, be glad the military invested the R&D in amputation techniques and how to build a better lower leg.

          Replacements will eventually get better. In fact, there was a story on slashdot [slashdot.org] a couple weeks ago about a new hand, As to the person saying the military will only get such things for high ranking soldiers, the story I saw on tv was about one Sgt. Juan Arredondo. [touchbionics.com] Not only not major brass, he's hispanic as well.

          Everyone has a pet project on how they'd want to spend X million dollars... and we'll never agree 100% on any expenditure. However, I feel it is our duty to return as much life back to those who volunteered to protect our lives and freedom. Also, lets be realistic, as long as people are human, they will disagree and disagreements will eventually spill over into war of some kind (be it one military against another, one gang against another or two siblings fighting that goes too far).
          • be very sad when it seems the only reason why emergency medicine evolves is to sustain the war-industry and its workers and victims... sounds like both cause and effect...

        • Seems to me the 30 million would be better spent researching ways to stops getting into so many wars.

          Please. 30 million wouldn't even fund a simple study to figure out what to look at, much less produce any meaningful results. Besides we already know why we get into so many wars, and it's not something that lends itself to being stopped with money. Humans sometimes resort to violence to get what they want. It's part of our nature. Any idiot who thinks we can "change our violent culture" and thereby make war not happen has an abysmally poor understanding of the effect of millions of years of evolutionary p

      • Didn't it occur to anyone that the reason DARPA might be interested in this is the hundreds of vets with missing limbs who have a need for better prosthetics?

        CARL: I got Games & Theory.

        CARMEN: Games & Theory? That's Military Intelligence... Oh, Carl!

        JOHNNY: Whoa Way to go, boy-yo!

        RECRUITING SERGEANT: Next time we meet, I'll probably have to salute you. What about you, son?

        JOHNNY: Infantry, sir.

        RECRUITING SERGEANT: Well, good for you. The Mobile Infantry made me the man I am today. [youtube.com]

    • Wow, they'd almost be able to carry a weapon.
      Or arm-wrestle a slashdotter.

  • How steampunk (Score:5, Funny)

    by The-Bus ( 138060 ) on Monday August 20, 2007 @05:42PM (#20298145)

    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.
    Does it make a choo-chooo sound when you're punching anyone?
    • Does it make a choo-chooo sound when you're punching anyone?

      No ... more of a Fisssssssssssssssssss-WHAP!"

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mikael ( 484 )
      When I first read the title, I thought it would enable the owner to knock someone lights out from the other side a room.

  • Try "rocket *fuel* powered"... (Score:5, Informative)

    by vanyel ( 28049 ) * on Monday August 20, 2007 @05:43PM (#20298151) Journal
    There's no rockets involved, it's actually steam powered, fueled by rocket fuel (hydrogen peroxide).

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by skoaldipper ( 752281 )
      Hydrogen peroxide? Hmm. Novel concept. When you accidentally scrape the fur off your cat while petting it, you can simply open up an arm valve nozzle and spray the flesh wound sterile.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by Tmack ( 593755 )

        Hydrogen peroxide? Hmm. Novel concept. When you accidentally scrape the fur off your cat while petting it, you can simply open up an arm valve nozzle and spray the flesh wound sterile.

        The high concentrate used as rocket fuel (up to 90% or better, read the early stages of http://armadilloaerospace.com/ [armadilloaerospace.com] when they were playing with this stuff) would ignite the cat on fire almost immediately on contact. Stuff that comes in the brown bottle is 1% or less usually (whitening toothpaste can be around 5%).

        Tm

    • You laugh at Hydrogen Peroxide now, but wait until you scrape your knee on the battlefield and you need some disinfectant.
      • wait until you scrape your knee on the battlefield and you need some disinfectant.

        Yeah, I did that. It hurt.

        Although I was 6 years old and I guess it was a playground... but we pretended it was a battlefield.

        And it really hurt when the school nurse put the stuff on my knee. So yeah, it was a battlefield.

        Conveniently, we also pretended to be the Bionic Man.

    • Re:Try "rocket *fuel* powered"... (Score:5, Informative)

      by TubeSteak ( 669689 ) on Monday August 20, 2007 @06:13PM (#20298389) Journal
      Picture:
      http://www.vanderbilt.edu/exploration/resources/bi onicarm_CAD-arm_800.jpg [vanderbilt.edu]
      Caption:
      A solid model of the arm shows how it works. The propellant cartridge contains the pressurized monopropellant. The liquid is routed through two flexible lines (not shown) across the elbow join and into two catalyst packs: one for the elbow and one for the foream. The catalyst increases the effective volume of the propellant by 1000 times. The propellant does not flow continuously but is controlled and routed by the servo valves just downstream. By rotating to different positions, a servo valve routes the gas to one side or the other of a gas cylinder, pusing the piston up or down. The entire operation is computer controlled, based on force and motion feedback from the joints.

      Hydrogen peroxide + catalyst = hot gas (steam)
      Sounds to me like they're talking about a liquid fuel rocket motor.

      That pic + text was alongside the main article:
      http://www.vanderbilt.edu/exploration/processor.ph p?action=get_section_text&id=1311&r=664693 [vanderbilt.edu]

      About halfway down they get into the details of how it works & why they call it a rocket motor. Towards the bottom you can read about the engineering challenges they faced.

    • If the title was "Rocket Fuel Powered Bionic Arm Sucessfully Tested", I would never have read the summary.

      Now that you've blown it for me, I don't think I'll bother with TFA.

  • This is the kind of action I expect... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 20, 2007 @05:44PM (#20298157)
    Bionic Commando [youtube.com]

    Aw yeah. That's some rocket-and-bionic power right there! Did you see what he did to Hitler?
  • can you mastrabate with it? Come on this is Slashdot, you were thinking it too.
  • FTFA, it seems to be more like a high power fuel cell:

    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 devi

    • Sounds more like a complicated steam engine to me. Doesn't appear to be any electrical output ... just high pressure steam. Of course, I didn't RTFA.
      • Sounds more like a complicated steam engine to me.

        I did RTFA - at least the first level.

        Yes, it's a steam engine. (The steam is switched through valves and pushes on pistons to achieve motion.)

        Not a rocket. (No blast of burning gases out an opening causing motion by recoil.)

        Not a fuel-cell or even a steam generator. (The steam powers the motion directly by pressure, not indirectly by driving a generator to power an electric motor.)

        So we now have a working steampunk [wikipedia.org] / gaslamp fantasy [girlgeniusonline.com] robot arm.

        Wonder if t

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Qzukk ( 229616 )
        Sounds more like a complicated steam engine to me.

        The only thing more awesome than rocket-powered cybernetics is steampunk cybernetics.

        Someone get the title changed, quick!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by 2short ( 466733 )
      It is not in any sense a fuel cell. Fuel cells produce electricity directly from a chemical reaction, consuming one or both reactants.

      This uses a chemical reaction to produce steam which pushes pistons. It is a steam engine. It is a very odd steam engine in that the steam is produced directly by a chemical reaction; they've replaced the usual boiler with something that is arguably a rocket.

  • Not the best idea (Score:5, Funny)

    by fishthegeek ( 943099 ) on Monday August 20, 2007 @05:53PM (#20298219) Journal
    Giving a rocket powered bionic arm to a 19 year old soldier thousands of miles away from his girlfriend? This can only end in tragedy.
  • So... to be a next generation super soldier, they must remove my arm?

  • Amazing Video (Score:5, Informative)

    by fractalVisionz ( 989785 ) on Monday August 20, 2007 @05:56PM (#20298251) Homepage
    Check out the video [vanderbilt.edu] on vandy's website. I love the last few seconds where the robotic are is about to cap someone!
  • There is a catalytic heat and steam source using hydrogen peroxide as fuel, but I can't find a rocket anywhere in TFA other than in the headline.
  • ....packs a helluva punch
  • Does anyone else see the potential downfall to this? I mean, surely this will lead to an army of rocket powered bionic arms that self-replicate, and eventually consume this entire universe, thus causing it to implode? Sure, we can rely on the potential to slip into the other universe, but are we ready to take that gamble?
  • First thing I thought of when I heard "military" and "rocket powered bionics". It's not actually a rocket, but a steam-powered bionic arm is hella badass too! Auto-mail?
  • If there ever comes a time when I only have one arm, please don't send me (back) into battle.

    Thanks so much.

    A Super Soldier should have all his/her parts still attached. The other path leads to the Dark Side.

    Thanks again.

  • I can't help but wonder if this is like the idea of the seven-league boots; that, in one stride, allow the wearer to travel (classically) 21 miles or (Roman) 10.5 miles. Groin strain seems the inevitable corollary to this. Oddly enough, from the earlier comments, it seems that's the presumed outcome of this development too...

    We should all stop to think for a moment: just because we can, should we? Won't anyone think of the soldiers?

  • I much prefer the idea of a steam-powered bionic arm than a rocket-powered one. I myself would like to see someone typing on the steampunk keyboard [steampunkworkshop.com] at breakneck speeds with such an arm. Rocket-powered arms are better for breaking things, though.
  • What is the energy efficiency of the actin/myosin [wikipedia.org] that powers animal muscles?

    And what is the efficiency of driving those proteins with mechanical force to produce energy? Can that energy be harvested as electrons or photons, rather than just reversing the ATP hydrolysis that usually powers their mechanics?

    And finally, what's the lifecycle efficiency of manufacturing synthetic actin/myosin fibers and the energetics infrastructure to power them, or be powered by them?
  • An arm? Just one? Why not a pair? What is it that one could use a single arm for anyway?

    Err, umm.....Never mind. Forget I asked.

  • ...Vanderbilt University reported a work-related injury to the OSHA wherein an employee who is as yet unidentified was seriously injured in his groin. Confidential sources say there was a lot of blood and a violently ripped off body part involved. We await further news on this development.

    • ...Vanderbilt University reported a work-related injury to the OSHA wherein an employee who is as yet unidentified was seriously injured in his groin. Confidential sources say there was a lot of blood and a violently ripped off body part involved. We await further news on this development.

      I bet his thesis advisor now regrets telling him to 'get a grip'...

  • This is what he was thinking when he said "One of these days Alice.... Bang, Zoom, to the Moon!"
  • Sounds like something Willie E. Coyote would design. That is, if we had no prior art [betatoys.com] on the subject...
  • Anyone else plug the six-million dollar man into an inflation calculator and scare themselves ;) If you back up a year or two to the book it is spot on :)

  • Bad Move (Score:3, Interesting)

    by DynaSoar ( 714234 ) on Monday August 20, 2007 @07:59PM (#20299131) Journal
    The Army prefers not to put powered vehicles on the front line because
    (1) they require refueling, and fuel is a supply/logistics problem, and
    (2) they make noise, and
    (3) being mechanical, they break.

    Loading up each soldier with enough H2O2 to get through the day would require stocking and maintaining equipment for this stuff. Running out of H2O2 before you can get refueled will result in removing the equipment so it won't detract from action, and that will result in soldiers abandoning it rather than run around burdened by something they can't use.

    Sitting around making a hissing noise makes one a target even in the dark.

    Putting a non-combatant like a mechanic/armorer on the front line is a bad idea because they can get killed, leaving you with useless armor. If this happens, or if it breaks and you don't send a mechanic/armorer because they're a burden themselves, it will result in the same abandoning noted above. Electrical devices break down less than mechanical and make them more likely to be adopted and used.

    If H2O2/catalyst devices are capable of producing sufficient power, they'd be being developed for use in fuel cells (which still requires the rear line placement), which could recharge battery powered armor (which doesn't have near the other problems). To be efficient it would require high purity stuff, which is hard to produce, and requires difficult and expensive maintenance no matter how far back it's made and stored. Even so, it'd be better from a logistic and tactical stand point to develop hydrogen based fuel cells to charge battery powered armor, running off the hydrogen from the fuels they're already going to be carting around -- unleaded, diesel and JP4/8.
  • It's not a reaction engine, so it's not a rocket. It's an expansion engine... the same basic principle as any gasoline or steam engine, with the working fluid being steam generated from internal combustion.
  • wouldn't it be a more accurate headline to say, "steam powered bionic arm successfully tested" ?

  • Video link (Score:4, Informative)

    by ZDRuX ( 1010435 ) on Monday August 20, 2007 @10:20PM (#20300241)
    Here's the link to the video [vanderbilt.edu] which shows the arm in action and talks a little about how it is made.

  • Sir, Yessir! *Thud* (Score:3, Funny)

    by kabdib ( 81955 ) on Tuesday August 21, 2007 @01:20AM (#20301359) Homepage
    "Figby, why aren't the troops saluting me?"

    "Sir, they don't want to wind up in the infirmary, like when General Havermeyer reviewed them."

    "What?"

    "Ah, but it was beautiful, Sir. The whole camp, passing in review, snapping their new powered arms up in perfect salutes . . . too much sun on the hardware . . . a firmware bug not caught in testing . . . ."

    "You mean?"

    "Fifteen hundred simultaneous concussions, Sir."

    "What?!"

    "They dropped in well-ordered lines, north-to-south, toes straight up. A credit to the training officers, if you ask me, Sir."

  • This is so funny... I keep seeing a machined brass arm with whistles on the valves, so the thing plays like a calliope when ever it moves... Oh! Oh! Oh! and it has this little Babbage engine as it's controller!!!
  • So now we'll have to call the Army "the Blue Meanies"?

    http://es.geocities.com/midithebeatles/video/yello w.htm [geocities.com]

  • Battle Angel Alita. There, I've said it.
  • In the end of the video though the last object the robot picks up is a pistol. Anybody notice they don't make the robot pull the trigger?
  • Is this really a good idea? Can't you see the poor soldiers accidentally decapitating themselves when they salute?
  • In the 70s we could get an arm, two legs, and an eye for only $6 million.

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