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Micromachines
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Recent Advances in Soft Robotics and Flexible Electronics: From Materials...
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Recent Advances in Soft Robotics and Flexible Electronics: From Materials to Applications

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "E：Engineering and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2023) | Viewed by 6836

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Yongkuk Lee

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS 67260, USA
Interests: flexible electronics; stretchable electronics; wearable electronics; health monitoring; nanomanufacturing; human–machine interfaces
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Woon-Hong Yeo

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Georgia Institute of Technology, 791 Atlantic Drive, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
Interests: nanomanufacturing; biosensors; bioelectronics; soft robotics; human–machine interfaces
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, soft robotics and flexible electronics have been drawing significant attention from many different fields ranging from actuators, healthcare, wearables, human–machine interfaces, and sensors and as they can provide new solutions that were not possible with traditional rigid robotics and electronics such as dexterity, miniaturization, wearability, multi-functionality, and deformability. For example, unlike rigid robots with a finite number of degrees of freedom, soft robots have enormous potential in situations where to handle unknown objects varying in shape and size, navigate over unstructured terrain, and interact with living cells and tissues. Furthermore, lightweight, soft, and flexible electronics often offer conformal contact with the human body for reliable, accurate, and portable health monitoring or diagnosis in real time. However, to develop such unusual forms of robotics and electronics, advanced interdisciplinary studies and experiments involving biology, chemistry, material sciences, mechanics, and electronics are essential. This Special Issue covers a broad range of topics on recent advancements in the field of soft robotics and flexible electronics from their novel materials, design, manufacturing techniques, and strategies in designing soft/flexible mechanisms to their practical applications.

Dr. Yongkuk Lee
Dr. Woon-Hong Yeo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Micromachines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • soft robotics and actuator
  • advanced materials and manufacturing for soft robotics and actuators
  • medical applications of soft robotics
  • mechanics of soft materials
  • bio-inspired soft materials and structures
  • advanced materials and manufacturing for flexible electronics
  • stretchable/wearable/implantable electronic devices and their applications
  • flexible sensors and actuators
  • brain/human machine interfaces
  • portable disease diagnostic devices
  • flexible/stretchable batteries

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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31 pages, 8865 KiB  
Article
Haptic Feedback Device Using 3D-Printed Flexible, Multilayered Piezoelectric Coating for In-Car Touchscreen Interface
by Van-Cuong Nguyen, Victor Oliva-Torres, Sophie Bernadet, Guilhem Rival, Claude Richard, Jean-Fabien Capsal, Pierre-Jean Cottinet and Minh-Quyen Le
Micromachines 2023, 14(8), 1553; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14081553 - 02 Aug 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1888
Abstract
This study focuses on the development of a piezoelectric device capable of generating feedback vibrations to the user who manipulates it. The objective here is to explore the possibility of developing a haptic system that can replace physical buttons on the tactile screen [...] Read more.
This study focuses on the development of a piezoelectric device capable of generating feedback vibrations to the user who manipulates it. The objective here is to explore the possibility of developing a haptic system that can replace physical buttons on the tactile screen of in-car systems. The interaction between the user and the developed device allows completing the feedback loop, where the user’s action generates an input signal that is translated and outputted by the device, and then detected and interpreted by the user’s haptic sensors and brain. An FEM (finite element model) via ANSYS multiphysics software was implemented to optimize the haptic performance of the wafer structure consisting of a BaTiO3 multilayered piezocomposite coated on a PET transparent flexible substrate. Several parameters relating to the geometric and mechanical properties of the wafer, together with those of the electrodes, are demonstrated to have significant impact on the actuation ability of the haptic device. To achieve the desired vibration effect on the human skin, the haptic system must be able to drive displacement beyond the detection threshold (~2 µm) at a frequency range of 100–700 Hz. The most optimized actuation ability is obtained when the ratio of the dimension (radius and thickness) between the piezoelectric coating and the substrate layer is equal to ~0.6. Regarding the simulation results, it is revealed that the presence of the conductive electrodes provokes a decrease in the displacement by approximately 25–30%, as the wafer structure becomes stiffer. To ensure the minimum displacement generated by the haptic device above 2 µm, the piezoelectric coating is screen-printed by two stacked layers, electrically connected in parallel. This architecture is expected to boost the displacement amplitude under the same electric field (denoted E) subjected to the single-layered coating. Accordingly, multilayered design seems to be a good alternative to enhance the haptic performance while keeping moderate values of E so as to prevent any undesired electrical breakdown of the coating. Practical characterizations confirmed that E=20 V/μm is sufficient to generate feedback vibrations (under a maximum input load of 5 N) perceived by the fingertip. This result confirms the reliability of the proposed haptic device, despite discrepancies between the predicted theory and the real measurements. Lastly, a demonstrator comprising piezoelectric buttons together with electronic command and conditioning circuits are successfully developed, offering an efficient way to create multiple sensations for the user. On the basis of empirical data acquired from several trials conducted on 20 subjects, statistical analyses together with relevant numerical indicators were implemented to better assess the performance of the developed haptic device. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Soft Robotics and Flexible Electronics: From Materials to Applications)
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Review

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28 pages, 4940 KiB  
Review
A Review of Electrically Driven Soft Actuators for Soft Robotics
by Zhaoqi Ma and Dan Sameoto
Micromachines 2022, 13(11), 1881; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi13111881 - 01 Nov 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3831
Abstract
In recent years, the field of soft robotics has gained much attention by virtue of its aptness to work in certain environments unsuitable for traditional rigid robotics. Along with the uprising field of soft robotics is the increased attention to soft actuators which [...] Read more.
In recent years, the field of soft robotics has gained much attention by virtue of its aptness to work in certain environments unsuitable for traditional rigid robotics. Along with the uprising field of soft robotics is the increased attention to soft actuators which provide soft machines the ability to move, manipulate, and deform actively. This article provides a focused review of various high-performance and novel electrically driven soft actuators due to their fast response, controllability, softness, and compactness. Furthermore, this review aims to act as a reference guide for building electrically driven soft machines. The focus of this paper lies on the actuation principle of each type of actuator, comprehensive performance comparison across different actuators, and up-to-date applications of each actuator. The range of actuators includes electro-static soft actuators, electro-thermal soft actuators, and electrically driven soft pumps. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Soft Robotics and Flexible Electronics: From Materials to Applications)
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