The transient response of a millimeter-sized sessile droplet under electrical actuation is experimentally investigated. Under DC actuation, the droplet spreading rate increases as the applied voltage is increased due to the higher electrical forces induced. At sufficiently high DC voltages, competition between the electrical actuation force, droplet inertia, the retarding surface tension force ...

Applications with physical human-robot interaction require a high level of safety even in case of software or hardware failures. This paper highlights the advantages of combining tendon actuation with transmission elasticity to maximize safety for robotic arms sharing workspaces with humans. To this end, the collision behavior of combinations of tendon or joint and elastic or stiff actuation wi...

Efficient control of RF MEMS switches is a very important issue as it is correlated to main failure mechanisms/modes such as the impact force and bouncing phenomena which degrade their dynamic performance and longevity. This paper presents the control of a specific ohmic RF MEMS switches under three different actuation modes, a tailored pulse optimization method based on Taguchi’s technique (vo...

The electromechanical properties of arrays of vertically aligned multiwalled carbon nanotubes were studied in a parallel plate capacitor geometry. The electrostatic actuation was visualized using both optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, and highly reproducible behaviour was achieved for actuation voltages below the pull-in voltage. The walls of vertically aligned carbon nanotub...

A digital microfluidic architecture is introduced for micron-scale localized fluid actuation and in in-situ optical sensing. Contemporary device integration challenges related to localization and device scalability are overcome through the introduction of a bi-layered digital microfluidic multiplexer. Trinary inputs are applied through differential combinations of voltage signals between upper ...

Electrowetting (EW)-induced droplet motion has been studied over the last decade in view of its promising applications in the field of microfluidics. The objective of the present work is to analyze the physics underlying two specific EW-based applications for microelectronics thermal management. The first of these involves heat absorption by liquid droplets moving on the surface of a chip under...

In this paper, we report a new push-pull-type SPDT (single pole double throw) switch actuated by the combination of electromagnetic and electrostatic forces for low power and low voltage operation. The switch is initially actuated by large electromagnetic force to change its state and is held to maintain its state by applying electrostatic force to reduce static power consumption. The electroma...

We demonstrate a new approach to impedance measurement on digital microfluidics chips for the purpose of simple, sensitive, and accurate volume and liquid composition measurement. Adding only a single series resistor to existing AC droplet actuation circuits, the platform is simple to implement and has negligible effect on actuation voltage. To accurately measure the complex voltage across the ...