Robotic Walking Papers

Robotic Walking Papers Robotic Walking Papers Robotic Walking PapersFor an inanimate object, a piece of paper can pack a big punch. Over its 2,000-year monopoly as a medium for published thought, paper has provided the static catalyst for countless scholarly, social, religious, and political movements. But today, paper is propelling a different kind of movement its own. Engineers are rediscovering the timeless practicality of paper in the fabrication of smart, low-cost robots that walk, scoot, and grasp all by themselves. Experimental paper devices capable of unattended motion are under development in a number of labs, and may someday have legs in commercial applications.As generations of origami artists and paper-plane designers can attest, a sheet of paper can become almost anything the creator wants it to be. Its light, flexible, and cheap. It can be cut, folded, stacked, or rolled into useful 3-D shapes. It can be engineered for extra rigidity, reflectivity, tensile strength, or other desirable properties, in combination with newer 2-D materials such as grapheme.Paper TrailOne such approach by professors Yong-Lai Zhang and Hong-Bo Sun of Jilin University, Changchun, China, could lead to a new category of fully autonomous, solar-powered paper sensors and MEMS devices. Their work exploits single-atom-thick graphene sheets to create paper devices that spring to artificial life in response to humidity changes in the air around them.Graphene has exhibited a series of enticing physical/chemical properties such as high electrical conductivity, transparency, biocompatibility, mechanical flexibility, strength, and good stability, Sun said, distinguishing graphene and related materials as good choices for the development of smart, paper-based machines, for instance, smart actuators.Sun, the director of JUs Center for Ultrafast Optoelectronic Technologies, said his teams bots begin with graphene oxide (GO) paper exposed to UV radiation from sunlight. We recently found that focused sunlight can reduce GO paper to some extent. Therefore, one side of the GO paper can be fully reduced due to the UV radiation-induced photochemical reactions, and the other side can survive as pristine GO. This effect significantly alters the reduced graphene oxide (RGO) surfaces water-repelling capacity. Bilayers of RGO and GO react differently when approached with moisture, for example, an engineers sweaty finger, he said. In response to moisture, the anisotropic water adsorption causes it to curl in seconds. The team has adapted the technology into robots that instantly morph from flat paper strips into inchworm-like crawlers that scoot across a surface, as into mora complex autonomous claws that grasp and release tiny objects.Smart GO/RGO paper may find broad applications in intelligent devices, Sun said. For example, sensors, MEMS, smart textiles, tissue engineering, and even robotics.The laser-cut parts of the robot fold when uniformly heated. Image Harvards Wyss InstituteWhat could be a more natural addition to the paper robotics fold than a device that actually folds itself up? Such a device developed at Harvards Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering captured national headlines last year. The origami-inspired automaton is a useful byproduct of the institutes long-standing effort to develop robotic insects, but it could have a life of its own in applications where robots are sent into environments where people cant go other planets, for instance. Space-confined craft could hold several flattened robots that self-deploy and go about their duties without human aid. To demonstrate that concept, graduate student Samuel Felton used the mathematics of origami to calculate a paper-folding pattern that would produce a self-propelled droid. His device begins as a perfectly flat planar surface with a few protruding electronics on top to provide power and programming. But flipping the switch sends the device into a tightly choreograph ed four-minute metamorphosis of folding that culminates with a colorful, crab-walking quadruped.The self-folding action is courtesy of the substrates unusual composition a sandwich of ordinary paper, a flexible circuit board, and a sheet of contractile pre-stretched polystyrene (PSPS) better known to generations of crafty kids as Shrinky Dinks. Together, the materials form a shape-memory composite multilayer cut to the appropriate shape to facilitate folding. Embedded, heat-responsive hinges placed along the fold lines enable the PSPS layer to bend into the desired position when heated to 100 degrees Celsius, creating rigid folds once cooled. The microprocessor controls the precise heating/folding sequence based on preprogrammed steps determined through computational origami. The result is sturdy 3-D object that scurries into action without any operator intervention. By choosing different shape-memory materials and more elaborate programming, the team said self-folding robots could be engineered for almost any purpose.Paper Viewsunterstellung paper bots are the vanguard of a coming wave of useful devices, microfluidics, and medical diagnostics. Paper meets a number of key engineering and economic criteria for devices that may help developing nations address problems in health care, environmental monitoring, and energy storage. But communication across this multidisciplinary community can be difficult. It doesnt help matters that researchers trying to search the scientific literature using keywords like paper typically end up with a long list of irrelevant citations in which the word appears as a synonym for article.Andrew J. Steckls Nanoelectronics Laboratory (NanoLab) at the University of Cincinnati is working to elevate awareness of paper-based technologies and to help codify the literature of this embryonic field. A graduate-level electrical and computer engineering course dubbed the Paper Laboratory takes advantage of papers versatility and low cost to ex pose students to translational engineering. Students must conceive, design, and build a novel working paper-based machine in one term. Steckl grants them unlimited creative license but strictly enforces his end-of-term deadline and a $50 development budget per project. The 2014 Paper Laboratory cohort developed paper-based technologies ranging from a flexible audio speaker to an oil detector to a smart diaper for biometric diagnostics.One Paper Laboratory student took a different, and much-needed, approach to the problem of literature searching. That project, the Digital Paper Library, produced an extensive database of published work in all facets of paper-based electronics, which Steckl envisions as the basis of a public Web resource available to other groups in the field.As cost becomes an increasingly important factor in device production and distribution, low-cost recyclable materials such as paper are bound to play a key role, according to Jason P. Rolland, senior director of r esearch for technology non-profit Diagnostics for All and Hewlett-Packard RD engineer Devin A. Mourey. Co-editing an entire special issue of the MRS Bulletin focused on paper-based technologies, they describe a field rapidly moving from proof-of-concept to real-world impact. Despite the prevalence of paper, this field is arguably still in its infancy. If devices are designed using low cost as a first principle, a tremendous global impact is possible leading simultaneously to both larger market potential for product and higher quality of life in developing nations.Michael MacRae is an independent writer. For Further Discussion These paper bots are the vanguard of a coming wave of useful devices, microfluidics, and medical diagnostics.

Living On or Off Base for Single US Military Members

Living On or Off Base for Single US Military MembersLiving On or Off Base for Single US Military MembersSingle military members will most likely be spending the first few years of their military career living in the barracks, dormitories, or onboard ship depending on your branch of service. Living off cousine at military expense (receiving housing allowance) may not occur until you make E-4,E-5, or even E-6 in some branches and military bases. This all depends on the occupancy rate of that particular base. Here is the service branch breakdown of the basic policy of living on or off base while single Army policy allows E-6 (some bases E-5) and above who are still single to live off base at government expense.Air Force policy allows E-4s and above who are single with 3 years of service to reside off-base at government expense.Navy policy allows E-5 and above and E-4s with more than four years of service who are still single to reside off base and receive a housing allowance.Marine Corp s allow E-6s and above who are single to live off base at government expense. Depending on the base, E-4s and E-5s will be allowed to live off base at government expense. In the Army and Marine Corps single lower ranking members will live in the barracks. In the Air Force they live in the dormitories, and in the Navy - depending upon the command will either live in the barracks or on ship. However, the rent (and utilities, etc.) will have to come out of their base pay. In these type of situations, lower enlisted wont receive a housing allowance, nor, in such cases, will you receive a food allowance (you will still get free meals, in the chow nachhall, however). The choices are not easy. Living in the barracks/dormitories means that you (depending on base and service branch), will have to share your room (about the size of a large bedroom in a family home), with one, two, or even three roommates - sometimes in an open bay of many people depending upon the berthing situation. Sometim es the bathroom is a for large groups located down the hall, not in your room. Many young troops decide to trade new car payments to live off base with roommates in their own apartment. For a young military member off-base is the place to be, even if they have to pay for it. Other than training bases (such as basic training and job training), and deployment locations, such as Iraq and Afghanistan (where you are not allowed to move off-base anyway), all of the services (except the Marine Corps) are striving to give all juniorchef enlisted members a room to themselves (Note The Marine Corps goal is to give all junior enlisted Marines a room with just one roommate, and all NCOs a room to themselves). Today, all Air Force junior enlisted enjoy a single room at most bases, and the Army is just a little behind the Air Force. The Navy can pretty much guarantee a single room for junior enlisted assigned to shore duty, and they are working hard to give rooms to junior enlisted assigned to s hips (when the ship is in port). Theyre not quite there yet, but they are working hard on it. Many bases (in all the branches) are converting to more modern dormitories, which include two to four bedrooms (one service member assigned to each bedroom with a private bath), with a shared living room and kitchen. Some locations even allow enlisted members to move into on-base family housing, if there are spare houses available, after offering them to all the members living with dependents. For example, two single members would live in one two-bedroom on-base house. As you make more rank, you can usually choose to move out of the dormitories and off-base at government expense. In this case, you would then receive the above-mentioned housing allowance and monthly food allowance (however, you can no longer eat for free in the chow hall youll have to pay for any meals consumed there). It varies from service-to-service and base-to-base, but in general, you can expect to be allowed to move o ff base and get paid for it, when you make the pay grade of E-4 (over 4 years of service), or E-5. Typical housing allowances will cover all or a majority of the rent for members qualified for it. At most bases, junior officers are given a choice of living on-base, or off-base at government expense. Some bases dont even have on-base single junior officer quarters. At a few bases, they may be required to live on-base. Generally, on-base single officer quarters are pretty nice (sometimes they are like small apartments), and officers dont generally have to have a roommate. If a single member is authorized to live off-base at government expense, they retain that authority, even if they deploy to a combat zone, such as Iraq or Afghanistan. However, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act allows a military member to break a lease, without penalty, if they deploy for 90 days or more. Many single members terminate their leases in such cases, put their property in a storage shed, and pocket the ir housing allowance during a deployment (this is completely legal). The disadvantage is that youre going to have to run around and find another place to rent when you return from deployment.

The Responsible Job Search

The Responsible Job SearchThe Responsible Job SearchWith the privileges of working come responsibilities that start even before you are hired.Working can be a real privilege. For one thing, its a great adventure.Every employee from the top to the bottom of a corporations org chart gets to be a part of the adventure - the daily challenge to create value, let people know about the value created and attempt to sell that value for a fair reimbursement. Its also a privilege to make a living, especially if its doing something you enjoy and about which you feel passionate.Like any privilege, work carries responsibilities that start even before you are hired. You are accountable for your statements and actions on the job search. Practice a responsible job search, and you are more like to be rewarded in your work.Responsibility No. 1 Be HonestNothing ruins the adventure faster for everyone than when business people lie about their actual results. From Madoffian lies about billions of dollars to lying about an expense report, every act of dishonesty hurts the adventure. If we are notlage honest about the actual costs and profits of creating, marketing and selling value to customers and employers, the adventure has no integrity. Its just a game of make-believe. After a while, its no longer an adventure. Its more like a game of deception. Theres no privilege in being a part of that. (Its also illegal.)Responsibility No. 2 Be CompetentIf you say you can do a job, actually be capable of fulfilling that role. Lying about your skills and passions just to secure a paycheck hurts the organization and your long-term career. If you cant do a certain role and dont want to do the role, be willing to walk away from a great salary and keep searching for the role you can perform well.This doesnt mean you must be fully prepared on Day One. It does mean you require the capacity to do the job and the desire to develop the necessary skills to do it well.Make a list of your strengths (what you do well) and your passions (what energizes you). Look at the job opening, and ask yourself if you have the necessary skills and passions to eventually do the job at a very high level. This goes back to being honest.Responsibility No. 3 Be RealisticSetting unrealistic expectations almost became the status quo over the past decade. Companies would brag about expecting to achieve 20 percent annual growth in sales and profits every year. Didnt quite work out that way, did it?I would love for a business manager to say honestly, ur intent is to create the best value for customers that we possibly can with the hope that they will invest in that value for a good return on our investment. Same goes for the job seeker making promises to a hiring manager. Who really knows what that return on investment will be before it happens? Making wild predictions as though they were guaranteed to happen has done a lot more harm than good.Responsibility No. 4 Be PracticalYou know that whole deal abou t pie in the sky thinking. It became famous because there are no pies in the sky. From the dot-com explosion of 1999 to the supposedly infinite and never-ending growth of the stock market in 2006, we kept thinking that we could get something for nothing. It doesnt work that way, at least not for very long.Every day in your business career, stay practical. Keep going back to the basic questionsWho is my customer (employer)?What value can I create for that customer that will help him to achieve what he wants to achieve?How can I demonstrate the value that I can deliver to him?How can I convince him to invest in the value I have to offer?How can I deliver that value with exceptional quality?What is the right price for me to request for the value that I have to offer?Responsibility No. 5 Strive for ExcellenceThis is the mother of all business responsibilities. My definition of excellence is to do an activity as well as you can do it right now and keep searching for ways to do it better in the future. This is the ultimate responsibility that you have in your business career. There is no, Ive reached the mountaintop and can coast from here. The day to coast is the day after you retire. Of course, by then the great performers have such an engrained striving for excellence that they never really stop.Being a part of the Big Adventure of Business is extraordinarily exciting and rewarding in so many ways. However, the cost of playing is living up to your responsibilities.