Versatile spaceborne photonics with chalcogenide phase-change materials.

Recent growth in space systems has seen increasing capabilities packed into smaller and lighter Earth observation and deep space mission spacecraft. Phase-change materials (PCMs) are nonvolatile, reconfigurable, fast-switching, and have recently shown a high degree of space radiation tolerance, thereby making them an attractive materials platform for spaceborne photonics applications. They promise robust, lightweight, and energy-efficient reconfigurable optical systems whose functions can be dynamically defined on-demand and on-orbit to deliver enhanced science or mission support in harsh environments on lean power budgets.

Overtwisting and Coiling Highly Enhance Strain Generation of Twisted String Actuators.

Twisted string actuators (TSAs) have exhibited great promise in robotic applications by generating high translational force with low input torque. To further facilitate their robotic applications, it is strongly desirable but challenging to enhance their consistent strain generation while maintaining compliance. Existing studies predominantly considered overtwisting and coiling after the regular twisting stage to be undesirable-nonuniform and unpredictable knots, entanglements, and coils formed to create an unstable and failure-prone structure.

Compliant, Large-Strain, and Self-Sensing Twisted String Actuators.

Twisted string actuators (TSAs) convert rotational motion from twisting into linear motion. They are known for high energy efficiency, and large linear strain and stress outputs. Although they have been successfully applied as the moving mechanism for different robot applications, their potential in soft robotics is mainly challenged by two aspects: First, the conventional strings of TSAs are stiff and strong but not compliant.