Wyss InstitutePhysics – Wyss Institute

Wearable Technology for True Movement Quantification

admin — Wed, 19 Apr 2023 20:47:43 +0000

Athletes undergoing daily training and patients undergoing physical therapy, often do not have a way to quantitatively assess their progress or obtain actionable insights that help to enhance performance or avoid injuries. There are vast options for wearable devices and activity monitors, however, those are generally limited to tracking cardiovascular activities and heart-related data.

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Origami-Inspired Radiant Cooling for Improved Thermal Health

Jessica Leff — Tue, 30 Nov 2021 20:54:15 +0000

In its Annual Energy Outlook 2021, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimated that in 2020, electricity use for cooling the interior of buildings (space cooling) by the U.S. residential and commercial sectors amounted to about 10% of total U.S. electricity consumption. The electricity used for cooling in the residential sector amounted to about 16% of total electricity consumption…

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Ultra-sensitive and resilient sensor for soft robotic systems

Jessica Leff — Wed, 11 Nov 2020 16:00:48 +0000

By Leah Burrows / SEAS communications (Cambridge, MASS.) — Think about your favorite t-shirt, the one you’ve worn a hundred times, and all the abuse you’ve put it through. You’ve washed it more times than you can remember, spilled on it, stretched it, crumbled it up, maybe even singed it leaning over the stove once. We put our clothes through a lot and if the smart textiles of the future are…

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Smart Thermally Actuating Textiles

Jessica Leff — Thu, 02 Jul 2020 15:00:44 +0000

Smart Thermally Actuating Textiles (STATs) are tightly-sealed pouches that are able to change shape or maintain their pressure even in environments in which the exterior temperature or airflow fluctuates. This soft robotics technology could be developed as novel components of rehabilitation therapies or to prevent tissue damage in hospital bed or wheelchair-bound individuals. Credit: Wyss…

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Robotic textiles are fueled up and take action

Jessica Leff — Thu, 02 Jul 2020 14:40:33 +0000

By Benjamin Boettner Soft robots are on the rise largely because of their ability to interact with and conform to the human body in ways that stiff and rigid robots cannot. As wearable devices that often use specially engineered fabrics, soft robots are starting to become the basis for new rehabilitation therapies, or as enhancements that protect wearers while they perform strenuous tasks.

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Controlling light with light

Jessica Leff — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 15:45:27 +0000

By Leah Burrows, SEAS Communications (CAMBRIDGE, Mass.) — The future of computation is bright — literally. Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University in collaboration with researchers at McMaster University and University of Pittsburgh, have developed a new…

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Shape-shifting structures take the form of a face

Jessica Leff — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 14:58:34 +0000

By Leah Burrows, SEAS Communications What would it take to transform a flat sheet into a human face? How would the sheet need to grow and shrink to form eyes that are concave into the face and a convex nose and chin that protrude? How to encode and release complex curves in shape-shifting structures is at the center of research led by the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and…

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Thinner shells for delivering gentler therapeutic bursts

Jessica Leff — Mon, 23 Sep 2019 14:58:01 +0000

By Lindsay Brownell (CAMBRIDGE, Mass.) — Cracking an egg to release its yolk requires applying external force (like being smacked against the edge of a bowl) to overcome the strength of the eggshell. Similarly, delivering microcapsule-contained therapeutic biomolecules into the human body requires that their containers be broken after they are injected, so that the cargo can be delivered in the…

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Soft robots for all

Jessica Leff — Wed, 26 Jun 2019 21:01:10 +0000

By Caitlin McDermott-Murphy, Harvard University Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology (CAMBRIDGE, Mass.) — Soft robots can’t always compete with the hard. Their rigid brethren dominate assembly lines, perform backflips, dance to Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk,” fly, dive, and walk through volcanoes. But each year, soft robots gain new abilities. They’ve learned to jump, squirm, and grip. And…

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Tension Pistons

Jessica Leff — Thu, 20 Jun 2019 15:14:15 +0000

The Tension Piston, developed at the Wyss Institute and MIT CSAIL, amplifies piston force and increases energy efficiency by using flexible materials to transmit fluid-induced tension. The Tension Piston is able to produce substantially greater force compared to a conventional piston at the same driving pressure. Tension Pistons can be used in pumps, engines, compressors, shock absorbers…

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