Cum laude for bioinspired soft robots
On 13 November 2020 Marina Pilz da Cunha obtained her PhD cum laude for her research on bioinspired soft robots made of light-responsive liquid crystal polymers. She carried out her research at the Stimuli-responsive Functional Materials and Devices group of the department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry.
The inspiration for her research were the fascinating examples of organisms with complex functionality and stimuli-responsive behavior that can be found in nature: think of heliotropism in plants or humidity triggered seed dispersal in pines. Marina鈥檚 goal was to translate such stimuli-responsive behavior into man-made polymers, so that trigger such as light can be used to address motion in polymers without requiring tethering or complex electronic control units.
From material to device
Through the implementation of these materials into devices, the research advanced the state-of-the art of soft robotics, yielding a fully light driven transporter robot and an aquatic device capable of attracting and capturing pollutant in water. By demonstrating the potential as well as the opportunities available when stimuli-responsive polymers are integrated in multi-tasking devices, Marina鈥檚 work shows the potential of untethered soft robots as functional devices with bioinspired properties.