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Wireless Power Transfer to Electrothermal Liquid Crystal Elastomer Actuators.

Huan Zhang1, Xiao Yang1, Cristian Valenzuela1

  • 1School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, P. R. China.

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Summary

Untethered soft robotics are now possible using wireless power transfer (WPT) to drive electrothermal liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) actuators. This breakthrough enables battery-free, wirelessly controlled soft robots with programmable shape-morphing capabilities.

Keywords:
electrothermal actuationliquid crystal elastomerliquid metalsoft actuatorwireless power transfer

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Area of Science:

  • Robotics
  • Materials Science
  • Electrical Engineering

Background:

  • Development of bioinspired soft robotics requires untethered actuation without physical connections or onboard batteries.
  • Wireless power transfer (WPT) technology offers a promising solution for remote actuation of soft devices.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To demonstrate untethered electrothermal soft actuators using liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) and wireless power transfer (WPT).
  • To design and fabricate LCE-based actuators capable of programmable shape-morphing and locomotion via wireless energy.

Main Methods:

  • Fabrication of electrothermal LCE actuators incorporating a liquid metal-filled polyacrylic acid (LM-PA) layer for electrothermal transduction and sensing.
  • Utilizing inductive-coupling WPT technology to power the actuators wirelessly.
  • Controlling molecular alignment in monodomain LCEs to achieve various deformation modes (bending, helical, crawling).
  • Real-time monitoring of shape deformation through resistance changes in the liquid metal circuit.

Main Results:

  • Successfully demonstrated untethered electrothermal LCE actuators driven by WPT.
  • Achieved diverse programmable shape-morphing and locomotive behaviors (directional bending, chiral helical deformation, inchworm-inspired crawling).
  • Confirmed real-time monitoring of reversible shape-deformation via resistance changes.

Conclusions:

  • The developed WPT-driven electrothermal LCE actuators represent a significant advancement in battery-free wireless soft robotics.
  • This technology provides a foundation for bioinspired somatosensory soft actuators and untethered robotic systems.
  • The integration of embedded sensing offers real-time feedback for complex robotic movements.