Related papers: The Soft-Membrane Surface Forces Apparatus
Many cell functions require a concerted effort from multiple membrane proteins, for example, for signaling, cell division, and endocytosis. One contribution to their successful self-organization stems from the membrane deformations that…
Physical properties of out of equilibrium soft materials depend on time as well as deformation history. In this work we propose to transform this major shortcoming into gain by applying controlled deformation field to tailor the rheological…
We realize a nondegenerate parametric amplifier in an ultrahigh $Q$ mechanical membrane resonator and demonstrate two-mode thermomechanical noise squeezing. Our measurements are accurately described by a two-mode model that attributes this…
With soft robotics being increasingly employed in settings demanding high and controlled contact forces, recent research has demonstrated the use of soft robots to estimate or intrinsically sense forces without requiring external sensing…
The dynamics of a free boundary problem for electrostatically actuated microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) is investigated. The model couples the electric potential to the deformation of the membrane, the deflection of the membrane being…
Squeeze film pressure sensors, exploiting the dynamical modification of the mechanical properties of oscillating elements due to the compression of a fluid in a small gap region, allow for direct and absolute pressure measurements. This…
Soft slender structures are ubiquitous in natural and artificial systems and can be observed at scales that range from the nanometric to the kilometric, from polymers to space tethers. We present a practical numerical approach to simulate…
We present a self-contained, soft robotic hand composed of soft pneumatic actuator modules that are equipped with strain and pressure sensing. We show how this data can be used to discern whether a grasp was successful. Co-locating sensing…
Active microelectromechanical systems can couple the nanomechanical domain with the electronic domain by integrating electronic sensing and actuation mechanisms into the micromechanical device. This enables very fast and sensitive…
In this work, an experimental characterization of the configuration space of a soft, pneumatically actuated morphing quadrotor is presented, with a focus on precise thrust characterization of its flexible arms, considering the effect of…
The measurement of cellular traction forces on soft elastic substrates has become a standard tool for many labs working on mechanobiology. Here we review the basic principles and different variants of this approach. In general, the…
Optomechanical devices in which a flexible SiN membrane is placed inside an optical cavity allow for very high finesse and mechanical quality factor in a single device. They also provide fundamentally new functionality: the cavity detuning…
Grasping compliant objects is difficult for robots - applying too little force may cause the grasp to fail, while too much force may lead to object damage. A robot needs to apply the right amount of force to quickly and confidently grasp…
Using numerical simulations, we characterized the behavior of an elastic membrane immersed in an active fluid. Our findings reveal a nontrivial folding and re-expansion of the membrane that is controlled by the interplay of its resistance…
This paper presents a mathematical framework for a flexible pressure-sensor model using electrical impedance tomography (EIT). When pressure is applied to a conductive membrane patch with clamped boundary, the pressure-induced surface…
Many microfluidics devices, coating processes or diphasic flows involve the motion of a liquid meniscus on a wet wall. This motion induces a specific viscous force, that exhibits a non-linear dependency in the meniscus velocity. We propose…
A rising wave of technologies and instruments are enabling more labs and clinics to make a variety of measurements related to tissue viscoelastic properties. These instruments include elastography imaging scanners, rheological shear…
A model describing cell membranes as optimal shapes with regard to the $L^2$-deficit of their mean curvature to a given constant called spontaneous curvature is considered. It is shown that the corresponding energy functional is lower…
Mechanically characterizing the human-machine interface is essential to understanding user behavior and optimizing wearable robot performance. This interface has been challenging to sensorize due to manufacturing complexity and non-linear…
The biological membrane, which compartmentalizes the cell and its organelles, exhibit wide variety of macroscopic shapes of varying morphology and topology. A systematic understanding of the relation of membrane shapes to composition,…