Sensing Static Forces with Free-Falling Nanoparticles

Muscular Forces from Static Optimization

At every joint there is a redundant set of muscle activated during movement or loading of the system. Optimization techniques are needed to evaluate individual forces in every muscle. The objective in this thesis was to use static optimization techniques to calculate individual muscle forces in the human extremities. A cost function based on a performance criterion of the involved muscular forc...

Forces between static-light mesons

Fingernail with static and dynamic force sensing

We report on our development of sensorized fingernails for mechatronical hands. Our proposed design can capture static and dynamic interaction forces with the nail and provide basic information about the direction of the main force vector. Over the course of several iterations, we have developed a very compact working prototype that fits together with our previously developed multi cell MID-bas...

Sensing Forces in the Microworld

Holographic optical tweezers (HOT) are a versatile tool allowing for the generation of complex arrays of multiple optical traps which act as force sensors with piconewton resolution. The combination of HOT and stop-flow microfluidics integrated with a fluorescence microscope gives full spatial, chemical and visual control over the microenvironment. This allows us to investigate the dynamic prop...

Casimir Forces between Nanoparticles and Substrates

We study the Casimir force between a nanoparticle and a substrate. We consider the interaction of metal nanoparticles with different substrates within the dipolar approximation. We study the force as a function of the distance for gold and potassium spheres, which are over a substrate of titanium dioxide, sapphire and a perfect conductor. We show that Casimir force is important in systems at th...