Robotic Arm Bested by High Schooler
High school senior Panna Felsen arm wrestles an artificial arm built by a group of students at Virginia Tech. It's one of three arms she defeated on March 8 during an international competition organized by Dr. Yoseph Bar-Cohen, a senior researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
When he issued the challenge, Bar-Cohen wanted to jump-start research in electroactive polymers, also known as artificial muscles. He didn't expect to see the challenge fulfilled for at least a couple of decades. "Given the technology we had in 1999, I thought it would take at least 20 years before we could do it," said Bar-Cohen, who has been called the "Artificial Muscle Man."
One of the robotic arms lasted almost 30 seconds against the 17-year-old San Diego student. Bar-Cohen is hoping the technology will eventually be improved so the robotic arms will win the contest.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL
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