Topic for Mar. 6. ( Thur )

[Alex !]

World’s first humanoid robot with lifelike muscles and bones twitches to life

Robot with 1,000 muscles twitches like human while dangling from ceiling

A new humanoid robot prototype uses fluid-filled muscles to kick its legs while hanging.

Clone Robotics released video footage of its Protoclone humanoid robot, a full-body machine that uses synthetic muscles to create unsettlingly human-like movements. In the video, the robot hangs suspended from the ceiling as its limbs twitch and kick, marking what the company claims is a step toward its goal of creating household-helper robots.

Poland-based Clone Robotics designed the Protoclone with a polymer skeleton that replicates 206 human bones. The company built the robot with the hopes that it will one day be able to operate human tools and perform tasks like doing laundry, washing dishes, and preparing basic meals.

The Protoclone reportedly contains over 1,000 artificial muscles built with the company's "Myofiber" technology. These muscles work through mesh tubes containing balloons that contract when filled with hydraulic fluid, mimicking human muscle function. A 500-watt electric pump serves as the robot's "heart," pushing fluid at 40 standard liters per minute.

Clone Robotics is not the only company chasing practical humanoid robots. In the past, we've covered human-shaped robots from Boston Dynamics, Unitree, Figure, and Tesla, among others. Meanwhile, tech companies such as Nvidia, Google, and Microsoft are in a heated race to develop AI models that can competently and safely make future household robots autonomous.

While the Protoclone is a twitching, dangling robotic prototype right now, there's a lot of tech packed into its body. Protoclone's sensory system includes four depth cameras in its skull for vision, 70 inertial sensors to track joint positions, and 320 pressure sensors that provide force feedback. This system lets the robot react to visual input and learn by watching humans perform tasks.

Other companies' robots typically use other types of actuators, such as solenoids and electric motors. Clone's pressure-based muscle system is an interesting approach, though getting Protoclone to stand and balance without the need for suspension or umbilicals may still prove a challenge.

Clone’s Myofiber technology uses artificial muscles to move the skeleton by attaching them to precise bone points, like animals.

The company began by building a robotic hand that mimicked human function using artificial bones and muscles. Its thumb can easily catch a ball and rotate. Building on this, the team created a humanoid torso with realistic shoulder joints, a cervical spine, and a moving elbow.

Clone originally imitated human anatomy before enabling natural motion using artificial muscles, as opposed to creating movements around its robotic structure. The outcome is remarkably lifelike—almost uncanny in how much it resembles the human body.

Even the Protoclone V1 employs a water-based, bio-inspired cooling system—akin to “sweating”—to keep its 1,000* myofiber “muscles” from overheating as they flex across over 200 degrees of freedom.