Robotics

Responsive soft robots inspired by sputtering ketchup bottle

A smartly designed pressure valve allows soft robots to respond to their environment without the need for computer control, reveal AMOLF researchers in their article in the journal Matter. That brings robots with natural ...

Robotics

Soft components for the next generation of soft robotics

Soft robots driven by pressurized fluids could explore new frontiers and interact with delicate objects in ways that traditional rigid robots can't. But building entirely soft robots remains a challenge because many of the ...

Energy & Green Tech

Turning up the heat on molten salt valves

Sandia National Laboratories is partnering with Flowserve Corp. and Kairos Power LLC on a $2.5 million, three-year Department of Energy Advanced Valve Project grant to lower the cost and boost the efficiency of concentrating ...

Automotive

Innovative valve train saves 20% more fuel

The valve train is the "respiratory organ" of combustion engines: it manages the aspiration of fresh air and the discharge of exhaust gases, which is referred to as "gas exchange." Today, only mechanically driven camshafts ...

Engineering

Cyborg-like microchip valve driven by earthworm muscle

Scientists at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research (BDR) in Japan have developed the first microchip valve powered by living cells. Earthworm muscle tissue allowed for a high contractile force that could be sustained ...

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