A flexible lens modeled after the human eye zeroes in on a minuscule depiction of a Rubik’s Cube. The versatile, adjustable lens can flex and contort without impairment.(Image credit: Corey Zheng)ShareShare by:
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A pliable, robotic “eye” has the capability to automatically focus based on light, devoid of any outside energy source. The exceptionally potent robotic lens exhibits enough sensitivity to differentiate strands on an ant’s limb or the sections of a pollen particle.
This lens might introduce “flexible” robots equipped with powerful eyesight that would negate the requirement for electronics or batteries for functioning. Soft robotics presents prospects across a spectrum of diverse implementations, ranging from adaptive technologies seamlessly integrated with the human physique to independent contraptions capable of navigating irregular topography or perilous surroundings, elucidated Corey Zheng, the leading author and a doctoral researcher in biomedical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Commonplace, electrically sustained robots employ unyielding sensors and electronics to discern the surrounding environment.
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The lens incorporates a hydrogel, inclusive of a polymer structure designed to ensnare and liberate water, thereby affording the hydrogel flexibility between more fluid and solidified states. Herein, the hydrogel reacts to thermal input by shedding moisture and diminishing upon warming, conversely absorbing moisture and expanding upon cooling.
The researchers fashioned a hydrogel annulus encircling a silicon polymer lens, thereby positioning the biomimetic architecture within a broader framework. The mechanistic composition bears resemblance to the human ocular structure, Zheng conveyed.
The hydrogel features embedded minuscule graphene oxide constituents, imparting a dark complexion and facilitating light absorption. Upon incident light exposure at intensities equivalent to sunlit conditions, the graphene oxide particles emanate warmth, consequently heating the hydrogel. This thermal elevation induces contraction and stretching, thereby facilitating lens focusing. Upon light source removal, the hydrogel swells, alleviating the exerted tension on the lens. The hydrogel exhibits responsiveness to illumination throughout the visible spectrum.
Within a recent publication featured today (Oct. 22) within the journal Science Robotics, Zheng in collaboration with his doctoral supervisor Shu Jia, a biomedical engineer affiliated with Georgia Tech, discerned that this lens could function as an alternative to the conventional glass lens within a light microscope to discern minute elements. As an illustration, the lens demonstrated imaging resolution capable of resolving the 4-micrometer spacing between a tick’s claws, visualizing 5-micrometer fungal filaments, and detecting 9-micrometer bristles on an ant’s leg.
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Zheng accentuated the more compelling aspect, indicating the researchers’ ongoing efforts to integrate the lens into a microfluidic network of valves fabricated from the same reactive hydrogel. This implies that the light instrumental in creating the image can concurrently serve to drive an intelligent, autonomous camera configuration, Zheng remarked.
Moreover, the inherent adaptability of the hydrogel suggests the lens’s potential to “perceive” well beyond human ocular capabilities. For instance, it could emulate the feline’s aptitude for detecting disguised entities through its vertical pupil or mirror the cuttlefish’s peculiar W-shaped retina to discern colors imperceptible to humans.
“We possess the means to manipulate the lens in genuinely singular methods,” Zheng stated.
Stephanie PappasSocial Links NavigationLive Science Contributor
Stephanie Pappas functions as a contributing author for Live Science, exploring topics spanning earth science, archaeology, the human brain, and behavior. Having previously held the position of senior writer at Live Science, she now operates as a freelancer situated in Denver, Colorado. Stephanie regularly contributes to Scientific American and The Monitor, the monthly journal of the American Psychological Association. Stephanie attained a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina and a graduate credential in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
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