LICER: Liquid-Crystal Elastomer Robotics
The project at a glance
About
LiCER proposes to design, develop and demonstrate an instrumented actuator from liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs), with the aim of building a soft endoscope robot. This requires the intersection of three research areas represented by the applicant (AI) and the two host groups (JL, HV): (1) LCE engineering and programming of actuation (JL), (2) mechanics of soft materials for dynamic actuation (AI) and (3) the development of robotic control systems (HV). Direct ink writing (DIW) will be used to make the LCEs, allowing us to program the ground state shape and the alignment of the polymer chains, thereby defining the actuated shape.
An innovative component is that we will use the same technique to print also other materials, providing thermal or light energy to the LCEs for triggering actuation and deformation sensors to monitor actuation. In contrast to standard LCE research, our ambition is to make a component that is of real value in robotics, as ensured by the competence in the team.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions grant agreement 101081455.
Organisation and partners
Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine (FSTM)
Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT)
Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS)
European Commission