Projekte
An iris tuned by artificial muscles
Projektbeschreibung
Inspired by the dilator muscle structure of the human eye, we have designed a radially-contracting liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) actuator resembling a mammalian iris. Liquid crystal elastomers are a new material that is contracting muscle-like when it is heated and that is therefore often referred to as artificial muscle. In the project we oriented the LCEs in a radially symmetric magnetic field to realize a radial actuation. Integrated platinum heaters embedded in polyimide are used as reliable flexible heaters . The iris maintains its circular shape during actuation and can be held at different contraction states by voltage regulation.
Laufzeit
01.08.2013 bis 30.11.2014
Projektleitung
Prof. Dr. Hans Zappe
Ansprechpartner/in
Falko Preller, Stefan Schuhladen
Telefon:7560
Schlagworte
liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs), radial, actuator, integrated heater