Spatiotemporally Controlled Soft Robotics with Optically Responsive Liquid Crystal Elastomers

Abstract

Spatiotemporally Controlled Soft Robotics

Artistic depiction of a robot with optically responsive liquid crystal elastomer limbs kicking a soccer ball in a grass field. The bending joints of the limbs are controlled remotely by front and back laser beams. The robotic face shield displays the schematic of a neural network collecting the limb configuration by machine vision and adjusting the laser patterns for desirable actions. More details can be found in article number 2500045 by Hanyu Zhu and co-workers.