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Researchers Create Materials With Unique Combo of Stiffness, Thermal Insulation

mechanical and aerospace engineering

Metashell jumping on a field of snow.

Jun 6, 2025

Set It and Forget It

Dynamic structures leap into the air on a predetermined schedule without intervention from computers or external stimuli. 

May 29, 2025

Laser Technique Revolutionizes Ultra-High Temperature Ceramic Manufacturing for Space, Defense Applications

The new technique uses lasers to create ceramics that can withstand ultra-high temperatures, with applications ranging from nuclear power technologies to spacecraft and jet exhaust systems. 
diagram illustrates physical forces that allow users to concentrate particles in liquid using ultrasound

May 21, 2025

Physics Advance Details New Way to Control Solid Objects in Liquid

The discovery will allow researchers to engineer technologies that make use of the technique to develop applications in fields such as biomedical testing and drug development. 
illustration shows an aerial tramcar next to a soft robot that can also ascend and descend along a track

Apr 28, 2025

High-Wire Act: Soft Robot Can Carry Cargo Up and Down Steep Aerial Wires

Researchers have created a light-powered soft robot that can carry loads through the air along established tracks, similar to cable cars or aerial trams. 
A underwater photograph of a manta ray swimming in the ocean in French Polynesia.

Dec 13, 2024

The World’s Fastest Swimming Robot

Drawing inspiration from manta rays, NC State researchers have engineered a soft robot that can swim even faster than its record-breaking predecessor. 
left image is titled support and shows a black polymer sheet lifting four stacked petri dishes that are loaded with spheres. right image is title manipulates and shows a black polymer sheet undulating in a way that rotates the multicolored spheres in a petri dish in a counterclockwise direction

Dec 6, 2024

Magnetically Controlled Kirigami Surfaces Move Objects: No Grasping Needed

The new technology is useful for lifting and moving items that cannot be easily grasped, such as fragile objects, gels or liquids. 
time-lapse image from a video shows a manta-shaped soft robot swimming over and under obstacles in a glass tank filled with water

Dec 4, 2024

Manta Rays Inspire the Fastest Swimming Soft Robot Yet

A team of researchers has drawn inspiration from manta rays and beaten its own record for the fastest swimming soft robot. 
medical image of lungs

Aug 13, 2024

Quantitative Ultrasound Parameters Offer New Tool for Diagnosing Lung Disease

The researchers demonstrated the parameters' ability to accurately diagnose and assess the severity of lung diseases in an animal model. 
image shows four photos of a glove and a graph. The hand wearing the glove is underwater. In each photo, the hand is extending a different number of fingers, which correspond to different electrical signals shown on the graph.

Aug 7, 2024

‘Amphibious’ Sensors Make New, Waterproof Technologies Possible

Researchers have demonstrated a technique for creating sensors that can function both in air and underwater. 
Campus gateway sign reading NC State University

Aug 6, 2024

Researchers Solve Long-Standing Challenge for Piezoelectric Materials

The discovery paves the way for new ultrasound technologies. 
Left: person wearing the fluid motor attached to artificial muscles. Center: artificial muscle lifts suitcase off the ground. Right: robotic leg attached to artificial muscle flexes its ankle.

Jul 1, 2024

Portable Engine Can Power Artificial Muscles in Assistive Devices

What sets the new engine apart is its ability to generate significant force without being tethered to an external power source. 
image shows three different configurations of 3-D cubes

Jun 26, 2024

Mechanical Computer Relies On Kirigami Cubes, Not Electronics

The mechanical computer uses a complex structure of rigid, interconnected polymer cubes to store, retrieve and erase data without relying on electronic components. 
a man runs across a green lawn wearing a robotic exoskeleton that attaches to his waist, hips and knees

Jun 12, 2024

AI-Powered Simulation Training Improves Human Performance in Robotic Exoskeletons

The robotic exoskeletons help users save energy while walking, running and climbing stairs. 
time lapsed photo shows a soft robot tendril lowering, wrapping around a tube, and lifting it into the air

Jun 11, 2024

3D-Printed Mini-Actuators Can Move Small Soft Robots, Lock Them Into New Shapes

The miniature soft hydraulic actuators can control the deformation and motion of soft robots that are less than a millimeter thick. 
image shows an orderly array of blue cubes, with a network of silver spheres descending from it

May 29, 2024

Researchers Create Materials With Unique Combo of Stiffness, Thermal Insulation

This combination of properties is extremely unusual and holds promise for applications such as thermal insulation coatings for electronics.