Associate Professor Fumihiro Sassa Fukuoka, Japan\u2014Publishing in the journal npj Flexible Electronics, researchers from Kyushu University have developed prototype thin-film electronic modules that can automatically connect and disconnect with each other.<\/p>\n Flexible electronics is a growing field of research because of its potential application in wearable sensors, soft robotics, and medical devices.<\/p>\n \u201cToday, most of these devices are made as fixed, one-piece systems. For some time now our group has been developing kinetic electronics, thin-film devices with actuators and circuits so they can move, attach, and function together,\u201d explains Associate Professor Fumihiro Sassa of Kyushu University\u2019s Faculty of Information Science and Electrical Engineering, who led the study. \u201cIn this study, we worked to develop an electromechanical docking mechanism between these thin-film modules that can connect and disconnect with each other when needed.\u201d<\/p>\n In their prototype, the actuator and electrical circuit are integrated on the same thin film. The actuator layer is composed of polypropylene and polyimide, two materials with different thermal expansion coefficients, meaning that they expand at different rates when heated. By incorporating this film with a gold microheater, the film can be heated, causing it to bend.<\/p>\n \u201cWe developed a few different variations of docking methods with the device. For example, one of them can loop and hook onto each other. Another one has a claw-like attachment that can lock onto another device and stay locked even when the power is turned off,\u201d continues Sassa.<\/p>\n These new devices open new avenues at the intersection of electronics and robotics, where circuit-integrated actuator films not only bend, but are modular and can actively connect and reorganize their functions.<\/p>\n \u201cThese devices are still in their early stages, so there are many things we need to work on,\u201d concludes Sassa. \u201cI hope this research leads to the development of devices that can\u2014like living organisms\u2014self-assemble, adapt, and even repair themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe developed a few different variations of docking methods with the device. For example, one of them can loop and hook onto each other. Another one has a claw-like attachment that can lock onto another device and stay locked even then the power is turned off,\u201d continues Sassa.<\/p>\n These new devices open new avenues at the intersection of electronics and robotics, where circuit-integrated actuator films not only bend, but are modular and can actively connect and reorganize their functions.<\/p>\n \u201cThese devices are still in their early stages, so there are many things we need to work on,\u201d concludes Sassa. \u201cI hope this research leads to the development of devices that can\u2014like living organisms\u2014self-assemble, adapt, and even repair themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n Fumihiro Sassa, Associate Professor<\/a>
\nFaculty of Information Science and Electrical Engineering<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nResearch-related inquiries<\/h4>\n
\nFaculty of Information Science and Electrical Engineering<\/a>
\nContact information can also be found in the full release<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Researchers develop prototype thin-film electronics that can dock and undock themselves Associate Professor Fumihiro Sassa Faculty of Information Science and Electrical Engineering Fukuoka, Japan\u2014Publishing in the journal npj Flexible Electronics, researchers from Kyushu University have developed prototype thin-film electronic modules that can automatically connect and disconnect with each other. Flexible electronics is a growing field […]","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[29],"tags":[43],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdgs.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31974"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdgs.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdgs.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdgs.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdgs.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31974"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sdgs.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31999,"href":"https:\/\/sdgs.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31974\/revisions\/31999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdgs.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdgs.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdgs.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}