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Related Concept Videos

Buoyancy01:12

Buoyancy

When an object is placed in a fluid, it either floats or sinks. All objects in a fluid experience a buoyant force. For example, a metal ball sinks, while a rubber ball floats. Similarly, a submarine can sink and float by adjusting its buoyancy.  The concept of buoyancy raises several interesting questions. For instance, where does this buoyant force come from? How much buoyant force is required to make an object sink or float? Do objects that sink get any support at all from the fluid? 
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Archimedes' Principle01:13

Archimedes' Principle

Archimedes' principle states that an upward buoyant force exerted on a body that is immersed partially or entirely in a fluid is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by it. To understand how much buoyant force is needed to make an object float, let us think about what happens when a submerged object is removed from a fluid. If the object were not in the fluid, the space occupied by the object would be filled by the fluid having a weight wfl. This weight is supported by the surrounding...
Density and Archimedes' Principle01:05

Density and Archimedes' Principle

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Free-form Light Actuators &#8212; Fabrication and Control of Actuation in Microscopic Scale
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A Light-Steered Self-Rowing Liquid Crystal Elastomer-Based Boat.

Zongsong Yuan1, Jinze Zha1, Junxiu Liu1,2

  • 1College of Civil Engineering, Anhui Jianzhu University, Hefei 230601, China.

Polymers
|April 28, 2025
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers developed a self-rowing boat using a liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) turntable powered by light. This novel system demonstrates controllable motion and offers a simple, electronic-free alternative for miniature machines.

Keywords:
boatliquid crystal elastomerphotothermally responsiveself-excited motionself-rowing

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Area of Science:

  • Materials Science
  • Robotics
  • Nonlinear Dynamics

Background:

  • Conventional machines often have complex controls and bulky power supplies, limiting reliability.
  • Self-excited systems can self-regulate by harnessing environmental energy.
  • Liquid Crystal Elastomers (LCEs) offer unique photothermal properties for actuation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To present a novel self-rowing boat model powered by an LCE turntable.
  • To investigate the dynamic behavior and motion modes of the boat under uniform illumination.
  • To analyze the conditions and parameters influencing self-rowing motion.

Main Methods:

  • Integration of LCE photothermal reaction theory with a nonlinear dynamic framework.
  • Numerical solution of primary equations using the fourth-order Runge-Kutta method.
  • Quantitative analysis of dimensionless parameters affecting self-rowing speed.

Main Results:

  • The self-rowing boat model exhibits two distinct motion modes: static and self-rowing, under steady illumination.
  • The transition between motion modes is governed by the interplay of driving and friction torques derived from photothermal energy.
  • Fundamental conditions for initiating self-rowing motion were quantitatively determined.

Conclusions:

  • The proposed LCE-powered self-rowing boat offers a simple, electronically independent system.
  • The system demonstrates potential for miniaturization and integration into micro-machines.
  • This research provides insights into light-driven actuation for autonomous systems.