Novel microactuators for microassembly and microrobotics
Lead Research Organisation:
Heriot-Watt University
Department Name: Sch of Engineering and Physical Science
Abstract
"This is a PhD research project in electrical and electronic engineering.
The PhD project is to develop electrothermal microgripper and microactuator devices for applications in microassembly, micromanipulation and microrobotics. Novel device designs will be investigated and in-depth study will be carried out with the aim to demonstrate the potential for practical applications. Devices with electrothermal and other actuation mechanisms for actuation are of interest as well as new fabrication methods. Investigation of improved polymer materials by adding graphene into the existing materials would be a significant opportunity. Further work will extend the actuation and fabrication methods to more complex designs toward to microrobots. The corresponding analytical analysis and numerical simulation work will be conducted. This is based on the experience in multiphysics modelling the student has gained in the master thesis project. The overall aim is to make breakthrough research in the topic area leading to significant scientific contribution with potential for industrial exploitation and funding application. "
The PhD project is to develop electrothermal microgripper and microactuator devices for applications in microassembly, micromanipulation and microrobotics. Novel device designs will be investigated and in-depth study will be carried out with the aim to demonstrate the potential for practical applications. Devices with electrothermal and other actuation mechanisms for actuation are of interest as well as new fabrication methods. Investigation of improved polymer materials by adding graphene into the existing materials would be a significant opportunity. Further work will extend the actuation and fabrication methods to more complex designs toward to microrobots. The corresponding analytical analysis and numerical simulation work will be conducted. This is based on the experience in multiphysics modelling the student has gained in the master thesis project. The overall aim is to make breakthrough research in the topic area leading to significant scientific contribution with potential for industrial exploitation and funding application. "
Organisations
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP/N509474/1 | 01/10/2016 | 30/09/2021 | |||
| 2204394 | Studentship | EP/N509474/1 | 01/11/2018 | 30/04/2022 | Alissa Potekhina |
| EP/R513040/1 | 01/10/2018 | 30/09/2023 | |||
| 2204394 | Studentship | EP/R513040/1 | 01/11/2018 | 30/04/2022 | Alissa Potekhina |
| Description | The main research was focused on studying the properties and novel fabrication methods for Liquid Crystal Elastomer (LCE) materials, and utilizing the actuation properties in new applications in micromanipulation and microrobotics. Recently, LCE materials have received a significant interest in reserch and practical applications for micro-actuation due to the unique and controllable properties of the material. A fabrication process was developed that enables new functionality of LCE actuators for in-plane actuation, such as in thermal and photothermal microgrippers for manipulation of microscopic objects. These have shown an effective actuation with low stimulus, as well as easy integration into larger systems and remote operation, as opposed to the previously demonstrated planar microgrippers from tranditional materials and photo-crosslinkable polymers such as SU-8. Also, a new computationally-efficient method for simulation of the bending and rolling behaviours of the LCE beams of a wide range of film thickness was developed and experimentally verified, providing good precision in predicting the deformation. |
| Exploitation Route | The research outcomes would be of importance in the field of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems engineering. Liquid Crystal Elastomer (LCE) based actuators are a novel but rapidly growing technology. New fabrication technique for in-plane LCE actuators offer significant benefits for micromanipulation, microrobotics and other state-of-the-art applications, for developing the untethered soft robots with locomotion and cargo transport functions. New simple and efficient modeling technique would be useful for designing the new LCE actuators and applications. The outcomes of this research would be of interest both for those who utilize LCE actuators for practical applications, as well as in the research of the fundamental properties of these novel materials. |
| Sectors | Electronics |