Explore the vast range of titles available.

Stretchable optoelectronic materials are essential for applications in wearable electronics, human–machine interfaces and soft robots. However, intrinsically stretchable optoelectronic devices such as light-emitting capacitors usually require high driving alternating voltages and excitation frequencies to achieve sufficient luminance in ambient lighting conditions. Here, we present a healable, low-field illuminating optoelectronic stretchable (HELIOS) device by introducing a transparent, high permittivity polymeric dielectric material. The HELIOS device turns on at an alternating voltage of 23 V and a frequency below 1 kHz, safe operating conditions for human–machine interactions. We achieved a brightness of 1,460 cd m −2 at 2.5 V µm −1 with stable illumination demonstrated up to a maximum of 800% strain. The materials also self-healed mechanically and electronically from punctures or when severed. We further demonstrate various HELIOS light-emitting capacitor devices in environment sensing using optical feedback. Moreover, our devices can be powered wirelessly, potentially enabling applications for untethered damage-resilient soft robots. Stretchable and self-healing light-emitting capacitors operating at low frequency and low voltage have been realized using a transparent elastomeric dielectric with high permittivity.

Monitoring surgical wounds post-operatively is necessary to prevent infection, dehiscence and other complications. However, the monitoring of deep surgical sites is typically limited to indirect observations or to costly radiological investigations that often fail to detect complications before they become severe. Bioelectronic sensors could provide accurate and continuous monitoring from within the body, but the form factors of existing devices are not amenable to integration with sensitive wound tissues and to wireless data transmission. Here we show that multifilament surgical sutures functionalized with a conductive polymer and incorporating pledgets with capacitive sensors operated via radiofrequency identification can be used to monitor physicochemical states of deep surgical sites. We show in live pigs that the sutures can monitor wound integrity, gastric leakage and tissue micromotions, and in rodents that the healing outcomes are equivalent to those of medical-grade sutures. Battery-free wirelessly operated bioelectronic sutures may facilitate post-surgical monitoring in a wide range of interventions. Multifilament surgical sutures functionalized with a conductive polymer and incorporating pledgets with capacitive sensors operated via radiofrequency identification can be used to monitor physicochemical states of deep surgical sites.

Dealing safely with nuclear waste is an imperative for the nuclear industry. Increasingly, robots are being developed to carry out complex tasks such as perceiving, grasping, cutting, and manipulating waste. Radioactive material can be sorted, and either stored safely or disposed of appropriately, entirely through the actions of remotely controlled robots. Radiological characterisation is also critical during the decommissioning of nuclear facilities. It involves the detection and labelling of radiation levels, waste materials, and contaminants, as well as determining other related parameters (e.g., thermal and chemical), with the data visualised as 3D scene models. This paper overviews work by researchers at the QMUL Centre for Advanced Robotics (ARQ), a partner in the UK EPSRC National Centre for Nuclear Robotics (NCNR), a consortium working on the development of radiation-hardened robots fit to handle nuclear waste. Three areas of nuclear-related research are covered here: human–robot interfaces for remote operations, sensor delivery, and intelligent robotic manipulation.

In recent years we have seen tremendous progress in the development of robotic solutions for minimally invasive surgery (MIS). Indeed, a number of robot-assisted MIS systems have been developed to product level and are now well-established clinical tools; Intuitive Surgical’s very successful da Vinci Surgical System a prime example. The majority of these surgical systems are based on the traditional rigid-component robot design that was instrumental in the third industrial revolution—especially within the manufacturing sector. However, the use of this approach for surgical procedures on or around soft tissue has come under increasing criticism. The dangers of operating with a robot made from rigid components both near and within a patient are considerable. The EU project STIFF-FLOP, arguably the first large-scale research programme on soft robots for MIS, signalled the start of a concerted effort among researchers to investigate this area more comprehensively. While soft robots have many advantages over their rigid-component counterparts, among them high compliance and increased dexterity, they also bring their own specific challenges when interacting with the environment, such as the need to integrate sensors (which also need to be soft) that can determine the robot’s position and orientation (pose). In this study, the challenges of sensor integration are explored, while keeping the surgeon’s perspective at the forefront of ourdiscussion. The paper critically explores a range of methods, predominantly those developed during the EU project STIFF-FLOP, that facilitate the embedding of soft sensors into articulate soft robot structures using flexible, optics-based lightguides. We examine different optics-based approaches to pose perception in a minimally invasive surgery settings, and methods of integration are also discussed.

Many organisms like earthworms with soft bodies and simple nervous systems can sense and respond to stimuli, conducting complex tasks such as navigation, foraging, and transporting objects. However, most soft robots currently require rigid semiconductor‐based electronics for sensing and control, limiting the benefits of their soft bodies and posing challenges for integration. To address these limitations, a stimuli‐responsive electrofluidic nervous system (SENS) composed of soft materials to realize signal generation, multimodal stimuli‐sensing, and decision‐making for multiactuator soft electroactive robots is proposed. SENS is composed of multiple fluidic switches, which are driven by electroactive actuators and by external stimuli such as force and heat transduced into fluidic movement by sensing receptors. Electrofluidic circuits are created using these switches to achieve self‐starting oscillating circuits that control input voltages to actuators and mode‐selection units that activate specific oscillating circuits based on applied external stimuli to achieve stimuli‐responsive behaviors. Utilizing SENS, a soft crawling robot that can change its direction of motion in response to tactile and heat stimuli is realized. The robot is made of a dielectric elastomer actuator and two electroadhesion actuators. Furthermore, an untethered soft robot has been developed with a miniaturized SENS and an onboard constant voltage power source, which can exhibit unidirectional motion. This work constitutes a step toward developing electronics‐free, entirely soft autonomous robots capable of versatile and adaptive tasks.