Implementation of anisotropic soft pads in a surgical gripper for secure and gentle grip on vulnerable tissues.

Current surgical grippers rely on friction grip, where normal loads (i.e. pinch forces) are translated into friction forces.

Design of Tree-Frog-Inspired Adhesives.

The adhesive toe pads of tree frogs have inspired the design of various so-called 'smooth' synthetic adhesives for wet environments. However, these adhesives do not reach the attachment performance of their biological models in terms of contact formation, maintenance of attachment, and detachment. In tree frogs, attachment is facilitated by an interconnected ensemble of superficial and internal morphological components, which together form a functional unit.

Pull-off and friction forces of micropatterned elastomers on soft substrates: the effects of pattern length scale and stiffness.

The adhesiveness of biological micropatterned adhesives primarily relies on their geometry (e.g., feature size, architecture) and material properties (e.

Nanostructure and Microstructure Fabrication: From Desired Properties to Suitable Processes.

When designing a new nanostructure or microstructure, one can follow a processing-based manufacturing pathway, in which the structure properties are defined based on the processing capabilities of the fabrication method at hand. Alternatively, a performance-based pathway can be followed, where the envisioned performance is first defined, and then suitable fabrication methods are sought. To support the latter pathway, fabrication methods are here reviewed based on the geometric and material complexity, resolution, total size, geometric and material diversity, and throughput they can achieve, independently from processing capabilities.