Photothermal actuation of a fluidic soft muscle

ORAL

Abstract

Despite innovations in materials and fabrication schemes that have enabled impressive soft robotic structures and devices, most soft robots remain tethered to cumbersome power sources (e.g., compressed gas) and/or require unwieldy valving. Developing soft robots capable of untethered actuation and remote control requires new methods of actuation. Compared to conventional power and control, visible light offers several advantages—including wireless remote control, spatial (~200 nm) and temporal (~ms) precision, and tunability (e.g., wavelength, intensity). Here, we exploit a novel class of photoswitches, donor-acceptor Stenhouse adducts (DASAs), for the remote actuation of soft muscles. Guided by studies of DASA’s unique photoswitching and photothermal properties, we achieve the remote actuation of a soft muscle via controlled photothermal phase changes without valves or internal controls. Further, we demonstrate the force output of this muscle and its promise for actuation in multi-scale soft robots.

*Primary: USARO under W911NF-19-2-0026. Partial: NSF MRSEC through DMR-1720256, and ONR MURI through N00014-18-1-2624. Views and conclusions are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing official policies, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Government.

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Presenters

  • Luke Gockowski

    • Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California at Santa Barbara
    • Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara

Authors

  • Luke Gockowski

    • Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California at Santa Barbara
    • Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara

  • Serena Seshadri

    • Department of Chemistry, University of California at Santa Barbara
    • Department of Chemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara

  • Jaejun Lee

    • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
    • Department of Chemistry, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California at Santa Barbara
    • Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara

  • Miranda Sroda

    • Department of Chemistry, University of California at Santa Barbara
    • Department of Chemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara

  • Matthew Helgeson

    • Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara

  • Javier Read de Alaniz

    • Department of Chemistry, University of California at Santa Barbara
    • Department of Chemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara

  • Elliot W. Hawkes

    • Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara
    • Mechanical Engineering, UC Santa Barbara
    • Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California at Santa Barbara
    • Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara

  • Megan Valentine

    • University of California, Santa Barbara
    • Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara
    • Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California at Santa Barbara
    • Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara