https://qz.com/1139028/mit-and-harvard-wyss-scientists-have-built-robot-muscles-that-can-lift-1000-times-their-own-weight/

Researchers at Harvard’s Wyss Institute and MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) announced today (Nov. 27) that they’ve created robotic “muscles” that can lift up to 1,000 times their own weight. The simple objects are constructed out of metal or plastic “skeletons” that are covered in either a liquid or air, and then sealed in plastic or fabric “skins.” The muscle pulls taught when a vacuum is created inside the skin, and goes slack when the vacuum is released. By folding the skeletons in different ways, the vacuum can pull the muscle in different directions.

Structures like these aren’t conceptually new: researchers have been working for years on robots that are soft and light enough that they wouldn’t crush humans if they fell, but strong enough that they’re actually useful. But up until now, robots like this have generally had to sacrifice strength for squishiness. This team’s discovery that simply folding materials like origami and moving them through varying water or air pressure could mean that it might not be long before we have robots that can operate safely around us.