UCLA

Soft robotics with intrinsic mechanical compliancy and intelligence features is emerging and pushing the boundaries of conventional robots. To be smarter, reliable, and self-sustainable, soft robots require new soft materials capable of autonomous sensing and actuating with embodied energy. Polymers, especially tissue-like hydrogels, show immense promise owing to their softness, simple and tunable synthesis, multi-functionalities, and stimuli-responsiveness. Currently, tremendous attempts have been made using these materials to develop flexible/stretchable devices as robotic components, but these approaches severely compromise mechanical properties and desired functionalities, such as actuation, sensation, mobility, and energy/power density. My dissertation focuses on designing new soft materials for next-generation bioinspired autonomous robots. In Chapter 1, the state-of-the-art of soft robotic materials and system design will be discussed. The design principles of photoresponsive polymers, and conducting hydrogels and polymers were elucidated, followed by the motivation of the current study related to autonomous actuators, flexible electronics, and energy storage. In Chapters 2 and 3, the photo-responsive smart materials were developed for artificial phototropism and self-sustained oscillation. An in-depth understanding of the mechanism of autonomous motion, actuator characterizations, and potential applications in energy harvesting and oscillatory locomotion were investigated. In Chapter 4, the design principle and synthetic innovation of highly stretchable conducting hydrogels and polymers were discussed. Constructing new conducting materials with intrinsic stretchability was used for piezoresistive sensing and proprioceptive actuation. In Chapter 5, we developed oriented and hierarchical conducting hydrogels with controlled microstructures. We explored applications in flexible and stretchable energy storage devices with bending, stretching, and long-term cyclic stability. In Chapter 6, we summarized the progress made in autonomous actuators, sensors, and energy storage. We provided perspectives of novel materials in use of such applications.