Category Technology/Electronics

The octobot is powered by a chemical reaction and controlled with a soft logic board. A reaction inside the bot transforms a small amount of liquid fuel (hydrogen peroxide) into a large amount of gas, which flows into the octobot’s arms and inflates them like a balloon. The team used a microfluidic logic circuit, a soft analog of a simple electronic oscillator, to control when hydrogen peroxide decomposes to gas in the octobot. Credit: Lori Sanders

Powered by a chemical reaction controlled by microfluidics, 3D-printed ‘octobot’ has no electronics. A team of Harvard University researchers with expertise in 3D printing, mechanical engineering, and microfluidics has demonstrated the first autonomous, untethered, entirely soft robot...

Electromagnetic antenna in transmitting (a) and receiving (b) modes. Credit: Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology

A team of physicists has demonstrated the potential of silicon nanoparticles for effective non-linear light manipulation. Their work lays the foundation for the development of novel optical devices with a wide range of functionalities. These silicon nanoparticles based devices would allow to transmit, reflect, or scatter incident light in a specified direction, depending on its intensity. They could be integrated into microchips that would enable ultrafast all-optical signal processing in optical communication lines and next generation optical computers.

An essential component of any equipment that relies on electromagnetic waves for information transmission and processin...

LLNL researchers have successfully demonstrated the 3D printing of shape-shifting structures that can fold or unfold to reshape themselves when exposed to heat or electricity. Here, researchers Jennifer Rodriguez and Jim Lewicki examine a stent that can expand when exposed to heat. Credit: Photo by Julie Russell/LLNL

Researchers have demonstrated 3D printing of shape-shifting structures that can fold or unfold to reshape themselves when exposed to heat or electricity. The micro-architected structures were fabricated from a conductive, environmentally responsive polymer ink developed at the Lab...

A new smart window material when incorporated into windows, sunroofs, or even curved glass surfaces, will have the ability to control both heat and light from the sun. Delia Milliron, an associate professor in the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, and her team’s advancement is a new low-temperature process for coating the new smart material on plastic, which makes it easier and cheaper to apply than conventional coatings made directly on the glass itself. The team demonstrated a flexible electrochromic device, ie a small electric charge (~4 volts) can lighten or darken the material and control the transmission of heat-producing, near-infrared radiation. Such smart windows are aimed at saving on cooling and heating bills for homes and businesses.

Milliron and her team’s low-tempe...