\nSpider eyes - jumping wise, kirigami graphene, design for the blind, and coming up for landing! It's 4 Awesome Discoveries you probably didn't hear about!Kirigami inspires new method for wearable sensorsKeong Yong and Ezekiel Hsieh,...\nSpider eyes - jumping wise, kirigami graphene, design for the blind, and coming up for landing! It's 4 Awesome Discoveries you probably didn't hear about!
Kirigami inspires new method for wearable sensors Keong Yong and Ezekiel Hsieh, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Most complete exploration of fly landing maneuvers to advance future robots The Pennsylvania State University Colorado State University National Centre for Biological Sciences in India
Stanford increasing access to 3D modeling through touch-based display Stanford University Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute
Compact depth sensor inspired by spiders Harvard University UC Berkeley National University of Singapore
Most people find the aerobatic maneuvers of flies annoying. But, that’s exactly what landed this guy – Calliphora vomitoria -- a starring role in a new study. The most complete exploration yet of how flying insects land upside down in the blink of an eye. The slo mo reveals the fly’s perfectly timed maneuvers… well, usually. This research is a step toward better understanding the biomechanical and sensory processes involved. It has implications for neuroscience, as well as robotics.
The depth perception of jumping spiders allows them to pounce on targets from several body lengths away. Taking a cue from evolution, engineers have developed a compact, efficient depth sensor that works much like one of a jumping spider's front-facing eyes, calculating distance from different amounts of focus. The team uses a nanophotonic device called a metalens along with a computer algorithm to build maps that represent distance. The metalens sensor could be used for tiny robots, small wearables and lightweight virtual and augmented reality headsets.
As sensors become more common, how do you make them smaller, more durable, and less power hungry? By using the ancient art of Kirigami, of course! To cut and fold graphene, the world’s thinnest material. This next generation wearable sensor can be worn, stretched up 240%, and twisted 720 degrees – yet returns to its shape and still conducts signals. This graphene Kirigami was developed using a new online platform for nano-manufacturing. Researchers are already working on sensor version 2.0.
This research aims to make 3-D printing and computer-aided design more accessible to the blind and visually impaired. The tactile display, an actuated array of pins, quickly produces a touchable representation of the user’s work in progress. It mimics the geometry of 3D objects designed on a computer. With the design’s early success, the team is now poised to improve the scale, affordability and resolution of the display, as well as the software program.\n
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