Stimuli-Responsive Polymers for Soft Robotics

Author(s):  
Yusen Zhao ◽  
Mutian Hua ◽  
Yichen Yan ◽  
Shuwang Wu ◽  
Yousif Alsaid ◽  
...  

This article reviews recent progress in the use of stimuli-responsive polymers for soft robotics. First, we introduce different types of representative stimuli-responsive polymers, which include liquid crystal polymers and elastomers, hydrogels, shape memory polymers, magnetic elastomers, electroactive polymers, and thermal expansion actuators. We focus on the mechanisms of actuation and the evaluation of performance and discuss strategies for improvements. We then present examples of soft robotic applications based on stimuli-responsive polymers for bending, grasping, walking, swimming, flying, and sensing control. Finally, we discuss current opportunities and challenges of stimuli-responsive soft robots for future study. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Control, Robotics, and Autonomous Systems, Volume 5 is May 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (24) ◽  
pp. 3940-3950 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Verkoyen ◽  
Holger Frey

Amino-functional polyethers have emerged as a new class of “smart”, i.e. pH- and thermoresponsive materials. This review article summarizes the synthesis and applications of these materials, obtained from ring-opening of suitable epoxide monomers.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1369-1380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guangyan Qing ◽  
Minmin Li ◽  
Lijing Deng ◽  
Ziyu Lv ◽  
Peng Ding ◽  
...  

Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 329
Author(s):  
Seidai Okada ◽  
Eriko Sato

Coumarin-containing vinyl homopolymers, such as poly(7-methacryloyloxycoumarin) (P1a) and poly(7-(2′-methacryloyloxyethoxy)coumarin) (P1b), show a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) in chloroform, which can be controlled by the [2 + 2] photochemical cycloaddition of the coumarin moiety, and they are recognized as monofunctional dual-stimuli-responsive polymers. A single functional group of monofunctional dual-stimuli-responsive polymers responds to dual stimuli and can be introduced more uniformly and densely than those of dual-functional dual-stimuli-responsive polymers. In this study, considering a wide range of applications, organogels consisting of P1a and P1b, i.e., P1a-gel and P1b-gel, respectively, were synthesized, and their thermo- and photoresponsive behaviors in chloroform were investigated in detail. P1a-gel and P1b-gel in a swollen state (transparent) exhibited phase separation (turbid) through a temperature jump and reached a shrunken state (transparent), i.e., an equilibrium state, over time. Moreover, the equilibrium degree of swelling decreased non-linearly with increasing temperature. Furthermore, different thermoresponsive sites were photopatterned on the organogel through the photodimerization of the coumarin unit. The organogels consisting of homopolymers of coumarin-containing methacrylate exhibited unique thermo- and photoresponsivities and behaved as monofunctional dual-stimuli-responsive organogels.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 101
Author(s):  
Menglian Wei ◽  
Yu Wan ◽  
Xueji Zhang

Metal-organic framework (MOF) based stimuli-responsive polymers (coordination polymers) exhibit reversible phase-transition behavior and demonstrate attractive properties that are capable of altering physical and/or chemical properties upon exposure to external stimuli, including pH, temperature, ions, etc., in a dynamic fashion. Thus, their conformational change can be imitated by the adsorption/desorption of target analytes (guest molecules), temperature or pressure changes, and electromagnetic field manipulation. MOF-based stimuli responsive polymers have received great attention due to their advanced optical properties and variety of applications. Herein, we summarized some recent progress on MOF-based stimuli-responsive polymers (SRPs) classified by physical and chemical responsiveness, including temperature, pressure, electricity, pH, metal ions, gases, alcohol and multi-targets.


Author(s):  
Mark W. Mueller ◽  
Seung Jae Lee ◽  
Raffaello D’Andrea

The design and control of drones remain areas of active research, and here we review recent progress in this field. In this article, we discuss the design objectives and related physical scaling laws, focusing on energy consumption, agility and speed, and survivability and robustness. We divide the control of such vehicles into low-level stabilization and higher-level planning such as motion planning, and we argue that a highly relevant problem is the integration of sensing with control and planning. Lastly, we describe some vehicle morphologies and the trade-offs that they represent. We specifically compare multicopters with winged designs and consider the effects of multivehicle teams. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Control, Robotics, and Autonomous Systems, Volume 5 is May 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.


Author(s):  
Henrik Sandberg ◽  
Vijay Gupta ◽  
Karl H. Johansson

Cyber-vulnerabilities are being exploited in a growing number of control systems. As many of these systems form the backbone of critical infrastructure and are becoming more automated and interconnected, it is of the utmost importance to develop methods that allow system designers and operators to do risk analysis and develop mitigation strategies. Over the last decade, great advances have been made in the control systems community to better understand cyber-threats and their potential impact. This article provides an overview of recent literature on secure networked control systems. Motivated by recent cyberattacks on the power grid, connected road vehicles, and process industries, a system model is introduced that covers many of the existing research studies on control system vulnerabilities. An attack space is introduced that illustrates how adversarial resources are allocated in some common attacks. The main part of the article describes three types of attacks: false data injection, replay, and denial-of-service attacks. Representative models and mathematical formulations of these attacks are given along with some proposed mitigation strategies. The focus is on linear discrete-time plant models, but various extensions are presented in the final section, which also mentions some interesting research problems for future work. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Control, Robotics, and Autonomous Systems, Volume 5 is May 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.


Author(s):  
Alyssa Kubota ◽  
Laurel D. Riek

An estimated 11% of adults report experiencing some form of cognitive decline, which may be associated with conditions such as stroke or dementia and can impact their memory, cognition, behavior, and physical abilities. While there are no known pharmacological treatments for many of these conditions, behavioral treatments such as cognitive training can prolong the independence of people with cognitive impairments. These treatments teach metacognitive strategies to compensate for memory difficulties in their everyday lives. Personalizing these treatments to suit the preferences and goals of an individual is critical to improving their engagement and sustainment, as well as maximizing the treatment's effectiveness. Robots have great potential to facilitate these training regimens and support people with cognitive impairments, their caregivers, and clinicians. This article examines how robots can adapt their behavior to be personalized to an individual in the context of cognitive neurorehabilitation. We provide an overview of existing robots being used to support neurorehabilitation and identify key principles for working in this space. We then examine state-of-the-art technical approaches for enabling longitudinal behavioral adaptation. To conclude, we discuss our recent work on enabling social robots to automatically adapt their behavior and explore open challenges for longitudinal behavior adaptation. This work will help guide the robotics community as it continues to provide more engaging, effective, and personalized interactions between people and robots. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Control, Robotics, and Autonomous Systems, Volume 5 is May 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.


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