Light-Fueled Synchronization of Two Coupled Liquid Crystal Elastomer Self-Oscillators.

The synchronization and group behaviors of self-excited coupled oscillators are common in nature and deserve to be explored, for self-excited motions have the advantages of actively collecting energy from the environment, being autonomous, making equipment portable, and so on. Based on light-powered self-excited oscillators composed of liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) bars, the synchronization of two self-excited coupled oscillators is theoretically studied. Numerical calculations show that self-excited oscillations of the system have two synchronization modes, in-phase mode and anti-phase mode, which are mainly determined by their interaction.

Beating of a Spherical Liquid Crystal Elastomer Balloon under Periodic Illumination.

Periodic excitation is a relatively simple and common active control mode. Owing to the advantages of direct access to environmental energy and controllability under periodic illumination, it enjoys broad prospects for application in soft robotics and opto-mechanical energy conversion systems. More new oscillating systems need to be excavated to meet the various application requirements.

A Light-Powered Liquid Crystal Elastomer Spring Oscillator with Self-Shading Coatings.

The self-oscillating systems based on stimuli-responsive materials, without complex controllers and additional batteries, have great application prospects in the fields of intelligent machines, soft robotics, and light-powered motors. Recently, the periodic oscillation of an LCE fiber with a mass block under periodic illumination was reported. This system requires periodic illumination, which limits the application of self-sustained systems.

Thermally Driven Self-Rotation of a Hollow Torus Motor.

Self-oscillating systems based on thermally responsive polymer materials can realize heat-mechanical transduction in a steady ambient temperature field and have huge application potential in the field of micro-active machines, micro-robotics and energy harvesters. Recently, experiments have found that a torus on a hot surface can rotate autonomously and continuously, and its rotating velocity is determined by the competition between the thermally induced driving moment and the sliding friction moment. In this article, we theoretically study the self-sustained rotation of a hollow torus on a hot surface and explore the effect of the radius ratio on its rotational angular velocity and energy efficiency.

Self-Sustained Collective Motion of Two Joint Liquid Crystal Elastomer Spring Oscillator Powered by Steady Illumination.

For complex micro-active machines or micro-robotics, it is crucial to clarify the coupling and collective motion of their multiple self-oscillators. In this article, we construct two joint liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) spring oscillators connected by a spring and theoretically investigate their collective motion based on a well-established dynamic LCE model. The numerical calculations show that the coupled system has three steady synchronization modes: in-phase mode, anti-phase mode, and non-phase-locked mode, and the in-phase mode is more easily achieved than the anti-phase mode and the non-phase-locked mode.

A Self-Stabilized Inverted Pendulum Made of Optically Responsive Liquid Crystal Elastomers.

The inverted pendulum system has great potential for various engineering applications, and its stabilization is challenging because of its unstable characteristic. The well-known Kapitza's pendulum adopts the parametrically excited oscillation to stabilize itself, which generally requires a complex controller. In this paper, self-sustained oscillation is utilized to stabilize an inverted pendulum, which is made of a V-shaped, optically responsive liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) bar under steady illumination.