Related papers: Chemical Power for Microscopic Robots in Capillari…
The ability to propel against flows, i.e., to perform positive rheotaxis, can provide exciting opportunities for applications in targeted therapeutics and non-invasive surgery. To date, no biocompatible technologies exist for navigating…
Capillary forces guide the motion of biomolecular condensates, water-borne insects, and breakfast cereal. These surface-mediated interactions can be harnessed to build units into materials with exotic properties deriving from mesoscale…
The development of fast and strong microactuators that can be integrated in microdevices is an essential challenge due to a lack of appropriate driving principles. In this paper, a membrane actuator powered by internal combustion of…
Many technical solutions are bio-inspired. Octopus-inspired robotic arms belong to continuum robots which are used in minimally invasive surgery or for technical system restoration in areas difficult-toaccess. Continuum robot missions are…
We consider distributed systems of identical autonomous computational entities, called robots, moving and operating in the plane in synchronous Look-Compute-Move (LCM) cycles. The algorithmic capabilities of these systems have been…
Nanoparticle manipulations require a careful analysis of the forces at play. Unfortunately, traditional force measurement techniques based on the particle velocity do not provide a sufficient resolution, while balancing approaches involving…
During pregnancy, oxygen diffuses from maternal to fetal blood through villous trees in the placenta. In this paper, we simulate blood flow and oxygen transfer in feto-placental capillaries by converting three-dimensional representations of…
Semiconductor microelectronics are emerging as a powerful tool for building smart, autonomous robots too small to see with the naked eye. Yet a number of existing microrobot platforms, despite significant advantages in speed, robustness,…
To address the operational challenges of in-pipe robots in large pipes of water distribution systems (WDS), in this research, a control algorithm is proposed for our previously designed robot [4]. Our size adaptable robot has an…
Synthetic nanomotors powered by chemical reactions have been designed to act as vehicles for active cargo transport, drug delivery as well as a variety of other uses. Collections of such motors, acting in consort, can self-assemble to form…
Fluid phase equilibria involving nano-dispersed phases, where at least one of the coexisting phases is confined to a small volume, are investigated by molecular dynamics simulation. Complementing previous studies on nanoscopic droplets,…
Capillary filling in small length scale is an important process in nanotechnology and microfabrication. When one end of the tube or channel is sealed, it is important to consider the escape of the trapped gas. We develop a dynamic model on…
Leak detection and water quality monitoring are requirements and challenging tasks in Water Distribution Systems (WDS). In-line robots are designed for this aim. In our previous work, we designed an in-pipe robot [1]. In this research, we…
A long-standing engineering problem, the control of soft robots is difficult because of their highly non-linear, heterogeneous, anisotropic, and distributed nature. Here, bridging engineering and biology, a neural reservoir is employed for…
Robots with the ability to actively acquire power from surroundings will be greatly beneficial for long-term autonomy, and to survive in dynamic, uncertain environments. In this work, a scenario is presented where a robot has limited…
Chemical gradients provide the primordial energy for biological functions by driving the mechanical movement of microscopic engines. Their thermodynamic properties remain elusive, especially concerning the dynamic change in energy demand in…
We present modeling approaches to explain mechanisms of control of uniformity (narrow distribution) of sizes and shapes in synthesis of nanosize crystals and micron-size colloids. We consider those situations when the nanocrystals are…
The activity of biological cells is primarily based on chemical reactions and typically modeled as a reaction-diffusion system. Cells are, however, highly crowded with macromolecules, including a variety of molecular machines such as…
Laboratory processes involving small volumes of solutions and active ingredients are often performed manually due to challenges in automation, such as high initial costs, semi-structured environments and protocol variability. In this work,…
While a number of excellent review articles on military robots have appeared in existing literature, this paper focuses on a distinct sub-space of related problems: small military robots organized into moderately sized squads, operating in…