Related papers: TVIM: Thermo-Active Variable Impedance Module: Eva…
This paper presents a unified optimization framework for phase change material (PCM) based cooling systems. Thermal management is critical in applications such as photovoltaic (PV) modules, battery packs, and power electronics, where…
In this study, we introduce a novel Mylar-based pouch motor design that leverages the reversible actuation capabilities of Peltier junctions to enable agonist-antagonist muscle mimicry in soft robotics. Addressing the limitations of…
The dynamics of a large number of liquids and polymers exhibit scaling properties characteristic of a simple repulsive inverse power law (IPL) potential, most notably the superpositioning of relaxation data as a function of the variable…
We propose a mechanically simple and cheap design for a series elastic actuator with controllable stiffness. Such characteristics are necessary for animals for running, jumping, throwing, and manipulation, yet in robots, variable stiffness…
We propose a CompliantVLA-adaptor that augments the state-of-the-art Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models with vision-language model (VLM)-informed context-aware variable impedance control (VIC) to improve the safety and effectiveness of…
Soft matter materials and polymers are widely used in the controlled delivery of drugs. Simulation and modeling provide insight at the atomic scale enabling a level of control unavailable to experiments. We present a workflow protocol for…
Superpositioning of relaxation data as a function of the product variable TV^{\gamma}, where T is temperature, V the specific volume, and {\gamma} a material constant, is an experimental fact demonstrated for approximately 100 liquids and…
The complex shear modulus of solid $^4$He exhibits an anomaly in the same temperature region where torsion oscillators show a change in period. We propose that the observed stiffening of the shear modulus with decreasing temperature can be…
Polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEM) in combination with good electrolyte solvents, e.g., ionic liquids (ILs) are potential candidates for the new generation of electrochemical separators. Swelling PEM with aqueous IL solutions is one way to…
The conformational and rheological properties of active polar linear polymers (APLPs) under linear shear flow are studied analytically. We describe a discrete APLP as an inextensible flexible Gaussian bead-spring chain supplemented by…
Heat management in devices is a key to their efficiency and longevity. Here, thermal switches (TS) are of great importance because of their ability to transition between different thermal conductivity $\kappa$ states. While traditional TS…
Results of torsional oscillation tests are reported that were performed at the temperature T=230C on melts of a hybrid nanocomposite consisting of isotactic polypropylene reinforced with 5 wt.% of montmorillonite clay. Prior to mechanical…
Soft robots are known for their ability to perform tasks with great adaptability, enabled by their distributed, non-uniform stiffness and actuation. Bending is the most fundamental motion for soft robot design, but creating robust, and…
Polymer microgels exhibit intriguing macroscopic flow properties arising from their unique microscopic structure. Microgel colloids usually comprise a crosslinked polymer network with a radially decaying density profile, resulting in a…
In this work, we developed an improved shear lag model to investigate the load transfer characteristics of three-phase nanocomposite which is reinforced with microscale fibers augmented with carbon nanotubes on their circumferential…
Soft robots are compliant but often cannot support loads or hold their shape, while rigid robots provide structural strength but are less adaptable. Existing variable-stiffness systems usually operate at the scale of whole segments or…
V-telluride superlattice thin films have shown promising performance for on-chip cooling devices. Recent experimental studies have indicated that device performance is limited by the metal/semiconductor electrical contacts. One challenge in…
The capability to adapt compliance by varying muscle stiffness is crucial for dexterous manipulation skills in humans. Incorporating compliance in robot motor control is crucial to performing real-world force interaction tasks with…
The purpose of this research is to design, fabricate and test a tendon driven a continuum soft robot with three modular segments, each of which has a tunable stiffness enabled by layer jamming technology. Compared with previous studies, the…
Untethered soft robots that locomote using electrothermally-responsive materials like shape memory alloy (SMA) face challenging design constraints for sensing actuator states. At the same time, modeling of actuator behaviors faces steep…