Three papers that inspired our group in 2016 are connected by the theme of fluid-driven robotics. Whether the fluid is a gas or a liquid, these robotic systems need a way to (1) move the fluid around, and (2) get feedback on how much it moved, because the amount of motion depends on what the …
Category Archives: Lab News
Pumping water with no electric field (on average)
Alternating Current Electro-Osmotic Pumping at Asymmetrically Metallized Porous Membranes from Jasmin Beharic Here are the slides from Jaz’s presentation at the fall AIChE meeting earlier this month. We are putting electric fields across thin porous membranes to pump water. The unusual thing about our work is the time-averaged amplitude of the electric field is 0. …
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lasers in space
It’s not really lasers in space, but now we have a laser feeding into the vacuum of the electron microscope. This is great for viewing how microelectromechanical (MEMS) structures respond to infrared light (915 nm). The problem with viewing our strain-engineered MEMS structures on the workbench with an optical microscope, is that they move in …
3D Plots: MATLAB tutorial
I’m getting questions about MATLAB plots. Maybe it’s project time. Although I am busy learning Python and matplotlib, I won’t hate on MATLAB–here is my tutorial on plotting your data in 3D using 3 kinds of MATLAB plots. This time of year brings questions on which software is best for all kinds of topics. Common topics for …
Add some fiber to your 3D printer’s diet
We continue to investigate the potential of strings and fibers added to 3D printed, laser-cut and machined parts. The most basic application is soft, flexible links between parts that wouldn’t normally bend. Beyond that, conductive materials and sliding cables are discussed in this slide set from the IDETC conference. Here is the preprint