by Red_Robot » Wed Feb 12, 2020 2:41 am
A necro is fine...
I've got a little bit of practical experience with hydraulics from my days of driving tractors and front end loaders, and a lot of farm equipment either runs off of hydraulics or PTO attachment. I think from a practical application aspect, there's not going to be a lot of difference between a hydraulic cylinder and a muscle cylinder. By basic design, both are going to be a sealed tube with a metal rod or piston that moves in and out of one or both ends. So I think a muscle cylinder is going to fulfill pretty much any application a hydraulic cylinder would have. Basically, the function of both of these things is to push and pull. The big difference would be, a muscle cylinder is a sealed unit that needs a plug for electricity. With hydraulics, you are going to need a couple hoses attaching to the cylinder, as well as a pump of sufficient strength and a reservoir of hydraulic fluid. There's more opportunities for things to break down in a hydraulic system. So even though muscle cylinders might be more expensive initially, the hydraulic system probably requires more upkeep and money over time. And then there is the magical property of muscle cylinder systems in that they develop reflexes. So using muscle cylinders for machines with repetitive tasks is also probably more advantageous over time than just using simple hydraulics.
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