This paper presents a bio-inspired adaptive micro-lens with electrically tunable focus made of non-ionic high-molecular-weight polyvinyl chloride (PVC) gel. The optical device mimics the design of the crystalline lens and ciliary muscle of the human eye. It consists of a plano-convex PVC gel micro-lens on Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) glass, confined with an annular electrode operating as an artificial ciliary muscle. Upon electrical activation, the electroactive adhesive force of the PVC gel is exerted on the annular anode electrode, which reduces the sagittal height of the plano-convex PVC gel lens, resulting in focal length variation of the micro-lens. The focal length increases from 3.8 mm to 22.3 mm as the applied field is varied from 200 V/mm to 800 V/mm, comparable to that of the human lens. The device combines excellent optical characteristics with structural simplicity, fast response speed, silent operation, and low power consumption. The results show the PVC gel micro-lens is expected to open up new perspectives on practical tunable optics.
We propose a focus-tunable double-convex (DCX) lens based on a non-ionic PVC (nPVC) gel to be used at close conjugates. The proposed lens is composed of an nPVC gel and two plates with electrodes. Each plate has a hole whose boundary and inner part are pasted with an electrode (anode) and has another ring shaped electrode (cathode) whose center point is the same as the hole's center. The gel is sandwiched between an upper plate and a lower plate, and it is bulged inward between the holes of two plates by applied pressure from the plates (double-convex lens shape). The lens's focal length changed from 3 mm to 24.5 mm with applied voltages from 0 V to 400 V. We also observed that the proposed lens's field-of-view decreased from 121.9 ° to 41.9 ° according to the applied voltages. The proposed lens brings additional benefit for users with higher transmittance (over 94%).
Developing a simple and universal solution for gripping fragile, multiscaled, and arbitrary-shaped objects using a robot gripper is challenging. Herein, we propose a universal, shapeadaptive/-retaining and reversible, hardness-variable gripper skin that serves as a resourceful solution for grasping such objects without damaging them. The proposed universal gripper skin based on a magnetorheological elastomer is attached to a robot gripper. The proposed skin takes the shape of a target object as soon as the gripper grasps the object. At this time, we solidify the gripper skin by applying a magnetic field, thereby allowing the gripper to grasp the target object easily. After releasing the objects, the magnetic field is removed and the deformed proposed gripper skin rapidly restores its original shape. The proposed adaptive gripper skin is made to grasp various target objects, such as cylinders, cuboids, and triangular prisms, based on which its grasping performance is evaluated.
Metallic nanostructures (MNs) and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) play a pivotal role by articulating their significance in high-performance supercapacitors along with conducting polymers (CPs). The interaction and synergistic pseudocapacitive effect of MNs with CPs have contributed to enhance the specific capacitance and cyclic stability. Among various conjugated heterocyclic CPs, polypyrrole (PPy) (prevalently knows as “synthetic metal”) is exclusively studied because of its excellent physicochemical properties, ease of preparation, flexibility in surface modifications, and unique molecular structure–property relationships. Numerous researchers attempted to improve the low electronic conductivity of MNs and MOFs, by incorporating conducting PPy and/or used decoration strategy. This was succeeded by fine-tuning this objective, which managed to get outstanding supercapacitive performances. This brief technical note epitomizes various PPy-based metallic hybrid materials with different nano-architectures, emphasizing its technical implications in fabricating high-performance electrode material for supercapacitor applications.
In this paper, we propose a tiny haptic knob that creates torque feedback in consumer electronic devices. To develop the proposed haptic knob, we use a magnetorheological (MR) fluid. When an input current is applied to a solenoid coil, a magnetic field causes a change in the MR fluid’s viscosity. This change allows the proposed haptic knob to generate a resistive torque. We optimize the structure of the haptic knob, in which two operating modes of MR fluids contribute to the actuation simultaneously. We conduct magnetic path simulation and resistive torque simulation using the finite element method and perform experiments to measure the resistive torque and its torque rate according to the rotational speed and applied current. The results show that the proposed haptic knob generates sufficient torque feedback to stimulate users and creates a variety of haptic sensations.
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