Guest Editorial: Focused Section on Compliant Mechanisms for Mechatronics

Compliant mechanisms (CMs), along with soft robotics devices formed therewith, may be defined as engineering systems achieving force and motion transmission via the deflection of flexible members. CMs have increasingly gained a strong foothold in the scientific arena owing to their hinge-less nature, shock resistance, potential single-piece...

Design and Manufacturing of an In-Package Relative Humidity Sensor with Multi-Width Interdigital Electrodes Towards Enhanced Sensitivity for Characterization of Packaging Encapsulation Materials

This study presents a novel manufacturing process and design towards an enhanced sensitivity of an in-package relative humidity sensor. The device comprises multi-width interdigital electrodes which make oxide pillars appear during wet chemical etching in the fabrication process. Those oxide pillars appear only in wider areas while completely...

Design Feasibility of an Energy-efficient Wrist Flexion-Extension Exoskeleton using Compliant Beams and Soft Actuators

Passive and active exoskeletons have been used over recent decades. However, regarding many physiological systems, we see that the majority explore both active and passive elements to minimize energy consumption while retaining proper motion control. In light of this, we propose a design that combines compliant mechanisms as passive support...

Review of Manufacturing Process Defects and Their Effects on Memristive Devices

Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) technology has been scaled down over the last forty years making possible the design of high-performance applications, following the predictions made by Gordon Moore and Robert H. Dennard in the 1970s. However, there is a growing concern that device scaling, while maintaining cost-effective...

Micro-scale Realization of Compliant Mechanisms: Manufacturing Processes and Constituent Materials—A Review

Compliant micromechanisms (CMMs) acquire mobility from the deflection of elastic members and have been proven to be robust by millions of silicon MEMS devices. However, the limited deflection of silicon impedes the realization of more sophisticated CMMs, which often require larger deflections. Recently, some novel manufacturing processes have...

Reaching zero-defect manufacturing by compensation of dimensional deviations in the manufacturing of rotating hollow parts

In many sectors such as the aerospace industry, the manufacturing of rotating components is based on multi-stage production systems to achieve the complex requirements of high quality products. Even in the presence of Industry 4.0 and the increasing connectivity, these systems are very prone to failure due to the high level of potential...

New Materials and Processes for Transport Applications: Going Hybrid and Beyond

The present text introduces a Special Section of Advanced Engineering Materials linked to the symposium Advanced Materials for Transport Applications organized by the authors within the framework of the EUROMAT 2017 conference. It introduces the contributions that make up this Special Section, and takes the fact that a majority of them is...

Effect of fabric architecture, compaction and permeability on through thickness thermoplastic melt impregnation

To reduce the cycle time of structural, automotive thermoplastic composites, we investigated the potential of direct thermoplastic melt impregnation of glass fabrics using an injection moulding process. At the high pressures that occur during the process, the effect of the fabric architecture on the impregnation, compaction, volume fraction...

Space-time topology optimization for additive manufacturing: Concurrent optimization of structural layout and fabrication sequence

The design of optimal structures and the planning of (additive manufacturing) fabrication sequences have been considered typically as two separate tasks that are performed consecutively. In the light of recent advances in robot-assisted (wire-arc) additive manufacturing which enable addition of material along curved surfaces, we present a...

A simulator-assisted workshop for teaching chemostat cultivation in academic classes on microbial physiology

Understanding microbial growth and metabolism is a key learning objective of microbiology and biotechnology courses, essential for understanding microbial ecology, microbial biotechnology and medical microbiology. Chemostat cultivation, a key research tool in microbial physiology that enables quantitative analysis of growth and metabolism under...

Tra-digital Hybrids: Using digital fabrication to create a hybrid design for developing countries

Can improved technology make a difference in under-served communities to improve the existing build environment in a cultural sustainable way and make possible endogenous solutions? The technical research paper highlights the technical research done to answer this particular question. The research, that focuses on technical solutions to serve...

Tip-based chemical vapor deposition with a scanning nano-heater

In this preliminary effort, a moving nano-heater directs a chemical vapor deposition reaction (nano-CVD) demonstrating a tip-based nanofabrication (TBN) method. Localized nano-CVD of copper (Cu) and copper oxide (CuO) on a silicon (Si) and silicon oxide (SiO2) substrate from gasses, namely sublimated copper acetylacetonate (Cu(acac)2), argon (Ar...