Soft Robot Actuators
Context
- Using porous carbon nanoparticles from waste onion peels, a team of scientists have developed soft robotic actuators.
Actuator
- An "actuator" can be defined as a device that converts energy (in robotics, that energy tends to be electrical)into physical motion.
About
- Soft robots or actuators consisting of rubber-like polymer with embedded nanomaterial, which convert a source of energy to mechanical motion have been gaining much interest with targeted applications in areas, including bio-medical, military, and remote space operations.
- Generation of predesigned motion facilitated by their flexibility, affordability, and easy customisation are the main reasons for such interest.
- The actuators can act as efficient traps for illuminating low-power near-infrared (NIR) light and can convert a control signal into mechanical motion with bioengineering applications such as drug delivery, wearable and assistive devices, prostheses, and even artificial organs.