A new type of ferroelectric polymer that is exceptionally good at converting electrical energy into mechanical strain holds promise as a high-performance motion controller or "actuator" with great potential for applications ...
Polymers
Jun 30, 2023
0
1608
Materials scientists aim to use bioinspired soft robots to carry out advanced interactions between humans and robots, but the associated technology remains to be developed. For example, soft actuators must perform quickly ...
Researchers in Finland are "training" pieces of plastic to walk under the command of light. The method developed, published December 4 in the journal Matter, is the first time a synthetic actuator "learns" to do new "tricks" ...
Materials Science
Dec 4, 2019
1
178
New research from the laboratory of Ozgur Sahin, associate professor of biological sciences and physics at Columbia University, shows that materials can be fabricated to create soft actuators—devices that convert energy ...
Materials Science
May 23, 2019
0
118
A new study demonstrated the design, potential applications, and advantages of an innovative multi-chambered soft pneumatic actuator. Researchers described how the actuator generates cyclical motion and characterized its ...
Robotics
Jul 18, 2017
0
0
Traditional rigid-bodied robots are stiff, with few degrees of freedom, placing limits on many applications. Recently, more engineers are learning from the soft flexibility properties of living beings to advance bionic soft ...
Robotics
Jun 5, 2017
0
4
An EPFL team is developing soft, flexible and reconfigurable robots. Air-actuated, they behave like human muscles and may be used in physical rehabilitation. They are made of low-cost materials and could easily be produced ...
Robotics
Oct 12, 2016
0
0
During a 2014 talk on his exploration of deep-sea coral reefs, Baruch College marine biologist David Gruber showed a video of clunky robotic hands collecting fragile specimens of coral and sponges from the ocean floor. Harvard ...
Robotics
Jan 20, 2016
0
10
Patients who have lost their hand functions due to injuries or nerve-related conditions, such as stroke and muscular dystrophy, now have a chance of restoring their hand movements by using a new lightweight and smart rehabilitation ...
Engineering
Jan 11, 2016
0
22
Cornell University engineers have developed a method to re-create the arrangement of muscles of an octopus tentacle, using an elastomer and 3D printer.
Engineering
Oct 15, 2015
1
169
