MUSCLES TAP POWER FROM OCEAN WAVES

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Muscles_tap_power_from_ocean_waves/rssarticleshow/2260721.cms

• Scientists in the United States are using artificial muscles made from electroactive polymers to generate electricity from the ocean’s waves in a novel project off the coast of Florida.
• The 'muscles' produce electricity as they bob up and down attached to buoys. They can be physically activated with a jolt of electricity.
• Although presently they only generate enough power to light a small light bulb, scientists involved in the project see it as a first step to implementing a new, cheap technology for harvesting renewable energy from the ocean.
• Electroactive polymer artificial muscles — heralded as a key technology for powering future robots and other machinery, comprises essentially of several sheets of specialised rubber sandwiched between two elastic, oppositely-charged electrodes. When an electric charge is applied the electrodes squeeze the rubber. When the charge is dropped, the rubber relaxes. Roy Kornbluh of Stanford Research Institute International in California, US, and colleagues simply reversed the process.