Carnegie Mellon University

Harvard College

Lifeware Labs, LLC

Universidade De Coimbra

Arieca Inc.

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft Zur F&#xf6;rderung Der Wissenschaften E. V.

Estat Actuation, Inc.

Carmel Majidi

Philip LeDuc

Michael D Bartlett

Robert J Wood

Eric J Markvicka

Alexandros Charalambides

Navid Kazem

Steven Collins

Brian Stancil

Andrew Rape

Stuart Diller

Nolen Keeys

Yong-Lae Park

Lee E Weiss

Conor James Walsh

Gary Keith Fedder

Christopher J Bettinger

Andrew Lewis Fassler

Burak Ozdoganlar

Yigit Menguc

Radhika Nagpal

Kitty Kumar

Diana Young

Naser Naserifar

Hugo Paisana

Bulent Arda Gozen

Matthew J Powell-Palm

Arya Tabatabai

Jonathan A Malen

Tong Lu

Mahmoud Tavakoli

Anibal T De Almeida

Bor-rong Chen

Chengfeng Pan

Leia Stirling

Metin Sitti

Gierad Laput

O Burak Ozdoganlar

John D Watkins

Lining Yao

Yi-Chin Lee

Dirk-Michael Drotlef

Guanyun Wang

Wanliang Shan

Rebecca K Kramer

Phillippe Bérard

Sukho Song

Kadri Bugra Ozutemiz

James Wissman

Stuart B Diller

Brock Zekany

Kirby A Witte

Michael Ford

A polymer composite having shape-morphing capabilities where the composite comprises a liquid crystal elastomer and liquid metal inclusions to improve thermal and/or electrical conductivity. The liquid metal inclusions are metals such as Gallium, alloys of Gallium, eutectic alloys, and other metals that have low melting points. The composite is soft and stretchable, while still retaining the shape-morphing characteristics of the liquid crystal elastomer. The composite is an electrical insulator, yet conductivity can be induced through mechanical pressure.

Multifunctional shape morphing elastomer with liquid metal inclusions

An electroadhesive clutch using a ceramic-based dielectric layer separating opposing clutch plates, which function as electrodes. At least one of the clutch plates can be a flexible material, such as a thin film. A voltage applied across the electrodes creates an electrostatic attraction between the electrodes. The ceramic-based dielectric layer can be applied to one or both electrodes or, alternatively, placed between opposing electrodes. The ceramic-based dielectric reduces the voltage required to adhere adjacent plates, while also improving the force of adhesion. A rotary electroadhesive clutch using the ceramic-based dielectric provides improved force of adhesion and can be used to control the amount of torque transferred from an input to an output.

Rotary electroadhesive clutch

Coating inkjet-printed traces of silver nanoparticles (AgNP) ink with a thin layer of eutectic gallium indium (EGaIn) increases the electrical conductivity and significantly improves tolerance to tensile strain. This enhancement is achieved through a room temperature 'sintering' process in which the liquid-phase EGaIn alloy binds the AgNP particles to form a continuous conductive trace. These mechanically robust thin-film circuits are well suited for transfer to highly curved and non-developable 3D surfaces as well as skin and other soft deformable substrates.

Liquid metal fusion with conductive inks and pastes

An apparatus for communication, a system thereof, and methods of manufacture thereof are provided. The apparatus comprises a body and a printed circuit board (PCB) operatively coupled to the body. The PCB comprises a processing unit, a first communication module operatively coupled to the processing unit, and an array of assemblies. The first communication module is configured to communicate with a secondary communication module wirelessly. The array of assemblies comprises at least two rows and at least two columns. Each assembly comprises a switch and a light. The array of assemblies are operatively coupled to the processing unit. Each light is configured to change a state responsive to at least one of a change in state by the switch within the same assembly and a control signal from the first communication module.

Digital patch for discrete signaling, a baseball glove including same, and related method of manufacture

A flexible and stretchable integrated electronic device includes a substrate having a stiffness gradient, wherein a rigid electronic device is embedded within the substrate. The stiffness gradient within the substrate prevents delamination at the interface between the substrate and the embedded device. The stiffness gradient is accomplished by providing at least two distinct zones in the substrate with uniform stiffness, with each zone decreasing in stiffness as in a distance from the embedded device increases, or the gradient is accomplished by having a zone with a varying stiffness.

Integrated electronic device with flexible and stretchable substrate

A stretchable and transparent electronic structure may generally include a stretchable elastomer layer; optionally, a metal adhesion layer on top of the stretchable elastomer layer; a metal alloying layer on top of the metal adhesion layer; and a liquid metal, wherein the structure is colorless and transparent when viewed under visible light. Methods of making the stretchable and transparent electronic structure are also described.

Stretchable electronics and methods of making the same

The disclosure describes a soft-matter electronic device having micron-scale features, and methods to fabricate the electronic device. In some embodiments, the device comprises an elastomer mold having microchannels, which are filled with an eutectic alloy to create an electrically conductive element. The microchannels are sealed with a polymer to prevent the alloy from escaping the microchannels. In some embodiments, the alloy is drawn into the microchannels using a micro-transfer printing technique. Additionally, the molds can be created using soft-lithography or other fabrication techniques. The method described herein allows creation of micron-scale circuit features with a line width and spacing that is an order-of-magnitude smaller than those previously demonstrated.

High-density soft-matter electronics

A high-throughput method of manufacturing a liquid metal circuit may include applying a liquid metal to an alloying metal pattern on an elastic substrate to form the liquid metal circuit. The elastic substrate may have a surface area greater than 1 square inch. The liquid metal circuit may include a plurality of liquid metal circuits on the elastic substrate. Methods of using the liquid metal circuit are also described.

Liquid metal circuits and methods of making the same

A method for synthesizing a thermally conductive and stretchable elastomer composite comprises mixing liquid metal and soft material (e.g., elastomer) in a centrifugal or industrial shear mixer under conditions such that the liquid metal forms microscale liquid metal droplets that are dispersed in the soft elastomer. Liquid metal-embedded elastomers, or 'LMEEs,' formed in this manner dramatically increase the fracture energy of soft materials up to 50 times over an unfilled polymer. This extreme toughening is achieved by means of (i) increasing energy dissipation, (ii) adaptive crack movement, and (iii) effective elimination of the crack tip. Such properties arise from the deformability and dynamic rearrangement of the LM inclusions during loading, providing a new mechanism to not only prevent crack initiation, but also resist the propagation of existing tears for ultra-tough, highly functional soft materials.

Method of synthesizing a thermally conductive and stretchable polymer composite

An efficient fabrication technique, including an optional design step, is used to create highly customizable wearable electronics. The method of fabrication utilizes rapid laser machining and adhesion-controlled soft materials. The method produces well-aligned, multi-layered materials created from 2D and 3D elements that stretch and bend while seamlessly integrating with rigid components such as microchip integrated circuits (IC), discrete electrical components, and interconnects. The design step can be used to create a 3D device that conforms to different-shaped body parts. These techniques are applied using commercially available materials. These methods enable custom wearable electronics while offering versatility in design and functionality for a variety of bio-monitoring applications.

Method of producing untethered, stretchable, and wearable electronic devices

Soft-matter technologies are essential for emerging applications in wearable computing, human-machine interaction, and soft robotics. However, as these technologies gain adoption in society and interact with unstructured environments, material and structure damage becomes inevitable. A robotic material that mimics soft tissues found in biological systems may be used to identify, compute, and respond to damage. This material includes liquid metal droplets dispersed in soft elastomers that rupture when damaged to create electrically conductive pathways that are identified with a soft active-matrix grid. These technologies may be used to autonomously identify damage, calculate severity, and respond to prevent failure within robotic systems.

Multi-site damage sensing and localization soft-matter electronics and related systems and methods

A fabrication process for soft-matter printed circuit boards is disclosed in which traces of liquid-phase Ga&#x2014;In eutectic (eGaIn) are patterned with UV laser micromachining (UVLM). The terminals of the elastomer-sealed LM circuit connect to the surface mounted chips through vertically-aligned columns of eGaIn-coated ferromagnetic microspheres that are embedded within an interfacial elastomer layer.

Method for fabrication of a soft-matter printed circuit board

The present invention relates to a gripping apparatus comprising a membrane; a flexible housing; with said membrane being fixedly connected to a periphery of the housing. The invention further relates to a method of producing a gripping apparatus.

Gripping apparatus and method of producing a gripping apparatus

Growing community of inventors

Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America

Carmel Majidi