A separate silicone rubber layer, embedded with neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) magnetic particles, is bonded to the PI-PAA film. This “triple-layer sandwich” provides a powerful trifecta of responses: ...

Could the future of rescue missions and exploration lie in the hands—or rather, the flexible movements—of a swarm of ...

A kirigami-skinned soft robot powered by pneumatic muscles achieves crawling, steering and obstacle avoidance, advancing ...

Engineers propose a new quantitative framework to account for and predict the impact of temperature on the curing speed of platinum-catalyzed silicone elastomers. The findings could maximize ...

HOUSTON – (March 18, 2024) – Soft robots use pliant materials such as elastomers to interact safely with the human body and other challenging, delicate objects and environments. A team of Rice ...

Design engineers in most industries are looking for smart, programmable materials. But finding solutions that are scalable and adaptive to different environments is always a challenge. The challenges ...

The gastrointestinal (GI) tract is a collection of organs and structures inside the bodies of humans and other animals that ...

From texting on a smart phone to ordering train tickets at a kiosk, touch screens are ubiquitous and, in most cases, relatively reliable. But for people who are blind or visually impaired and use ...