Table of Contents Table of Contents
Previous Page  7 / 82 Next Page
Information
Show Menu
Previous Page 7 / 82 Next Page
Page Background

A D V A N C E D

M A T E R I A L S

&

P R O C E S S E S |

N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R

2 0 1 5

7

MINIATURE ORIGAMI ROBOT

MOVES MAGNETICALLY

Researchers at Massachusetts In-

stitute of Technology, Cambridge, de-

veloped a printable origami robot that

folds itself up from a flat sheet of plas-

tic when heated and measures about

a centimeter in length. Weighing only

a third of a gram, the robot can swim,

climb an incline, traverse rough terrain,

and carry a load twice its weight. Other

than the self-folding plastic sheet, the

robot’s only component is a perma-

nent magnet on its back. Movement is

controlled by external magnetic fields,

which cause the body to flex. Friction

between the robot’s front feet and the

ground is great enough that the front

feet stay fixed while the back feet lift.

Then, another sequence of magnetic

fields causes the robot’s body to twist

slightly, breaking the front feet’s adhe-

sion and propelling the robot forward.

web.mit.edu

.

T-SHIRTS BATTLE BACTERIA

Juan Hinestroza and his students

live in a cotton-soft nanoworld, where

they create clothing that kills bacteria,

conducts electricity, wards off malaria,

captures harmful gas, and weaves tran-

sistors into shirts and dresses. “Cotton

is one of the most fascinating—andmis-

Are you working with or have you

discovered a material or its properties

that exhibit OMG - Outrageous

Materials Goodness?

Send your submissions to

Julie Lucko at

julie.lucko@asminternational.org

.

OMG!

OUTRAGEOUS MATERIALS GOODNESS

Centimeter-long origami robot.

Courtesy of Christine Daniloff/MIT.

Matilda Ceesay, left, drapes muslin on

an antimalarial garment worn by

Sandy Mattei.

understood materials,” says Hinestro-

za, associate professor of fiber science,

who directs the Textiles Nanotechnol-

ogy Laboratory at Cornell University,

Ithaca, N.Y. Taking advantage of cotton’s

irregular topography, conformal coat-

ings of gold nanoparticles along with

semiconductive and conductive poly-

mers were added to the cotton fibers.

The technology may be embedded into

shirts to measure heart rate or analyze

sweat, sewn into pillows to monitor

brain signals, or applied to interactive

textiles with heating and cooling ca-

pabilities. Synthesizing nanoparticles

and attaching them to cotton not only

creates color on fiber surfaces without

the use of dyes, but the new surfaces

can efficiently kill 99.9% of bacteria.

For more information: Juan Hinestroza,

607.255.7600,

jh433@cornell.edu

,

www. cornell.edu

.

PICKIN’ UP GOOD

VIBRATIONS WITH ROCK

HARD GUITAR PICKS

Genvac Aerospace Inc., Cleveland,

launched a crowdfunding campaign

introducing Rock Hard Metal, a line of

diamond-enhanced guitar picks. The

picks are coated under high vacuum

using the same techniques used to coat

military grade night vision optics for the

armed services.

“Creating this pick was somewhat

of an accident,” says inventor Gerald

Mearini. “I just wanted a high quality

metal pick that I could use when I play

my 1985 Explorer. I had my technicians

make me a fewmetal picks, and I decid-

ed to put a layer of diamond-like car-

bon on it. When I tested the pick, I re-

alized that this is the best guitar pick I

have ever used.”

The surface of the picks creates

the lowest coefficient of friction pos-

sible, meaning it will not break the

guitar strings. Wear that is typically ex-

perienced from a metal pick on metal

strings will not occur.

“This pick delivers an aggressive

predatory sound, and subtly generates

new spectral harmonics. It sounds like

youarehittingthestringswithadiamond

sword,”Mearini explains.

indiegogo.com/ projects/rock-hard-metal/x/9563023.

Stainless steel guitar picks feature a

diamond hard coating.