Robotics Seminar Series: Bioinspired materials for robotics: From polymorphic hair to insect-scale jumping robots
All dates for this event occur in the past.
TOPIC: Bioinspired materials for robotics: From polymorphic hair to insect-scale jumping robots
SPEAKER: Sam Tawfick, Associate Professor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
BIO: Sam Tawfick is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Science and Engineering and the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His research is focused on synthesis, selfassembly and mechanical behavior of material. Tawfick obtained his PhD from the University of Michigan and was a Postdoctoral Associate at MIT. He is the recipient of the AFOSR Young Investigator Program, the Chao and Trigger Young Manufacturing Engineer from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), and many other awards.
ABSTRACT: Recent understanding of biological materials could enable unusual material systems for emerging bio-inspired robots. In my talk, I will present two such examples. In the first example, I will discuss multifunctional hairs for polymorphic robotic skins. Hairs are long aspect ratio slender structures, which derive their functionality from their continuous morphing ability. In nature, hair and fur are ubiquitous and their functions range from active thermal regulation, to signaling and camouflage. However, studies of such long hairs are challenging due to their large deformations and granular like jamming, especially due to interaction with liquids. Based on our understanding of dynamic elastocapillarity, we harness these complex interactions to design hair material systems which can morph their shape and color for a variety of skin functions. In the second example, I will describe the use of artificial muscle fibers in the actuation of insect-scale jumping robots. We demonstrate the coupling of coiled artificial muscles to buckling beams to actuate insect scale jumping robots. We will show the design and mechanics principles of snap-through buckling actuation leading to simple insect-scale robots that can jump up to 20 times their own height. These two examples shed light on an exciting roadmap at the intersection of bioinspired materials and nonlinear mechanics principles for use in robotics.
Hosted by Professor Renee Zhao, Department of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering