Advances in additive manufacturing techniques have enabled the creation of stimuli-responsive materials with designed three-dimensional (3D) architectures. Unlike biological systems in which functions such as sensing, actuation, and control are closely integrated, few architected materials have comparable system complexity. We report a design and manufacturing route to create a class of robotic metamaterials capable of motion with multiple degrees of freedom, amplification of strain in a prescribed direction in response to an electric field (and vice versa), and thus, programmed motions with self-sensing and feedback control. These robotic metamaterials consist of networks of piezoelectric, conductive, and structural elements interwoven into a designed 3D lattice. The resulting architected materials function as proprioceptive microrobots that actively sense and move.
Due to copyright restrictions, the access to the full text of this article is only available via subscription.Palpation can be used as a manual technique for detecting normal and abnormal tissues. According to the recent applications of the robotic and control systems in medical fields, the design and fabrication of a device capable of abdominal palpation is of great importance. In this paper, a device has been designed and fabricated to be used for palpation examinations. A cable mechanism has been used to meet weight and size criteria of the device. The proposed design has been explained in detail. The device measures contact force between the probe and palpated tissue and also the deflection of the tissue as the probe is pressed against the body. Useful parameters of abdominal tissue such as stiffness can also be obtained.INS
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