Succeeds in developing a smart healthcare soft robot that responds to ultrasonic and magnetic fields
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- Writer 커뮤니케이션팀
- 보도일자 2020-12-14
The research team of Professor Chang-kyu Yoon of the Department of Mechanical Systems Engineering and Professor Seung-hyeon Song of the Department of Electronics Engineering at Sookmyung Women's University succeeded in developing a soft robot that responds to external ultrasonic waves, changes its shape wirelessly, and controls movement with a magnetic field. The research results are to be published in a renowned international journal.
(From left of photo) Students Hye-gyo Son, Eun-jeong Byeon, Yeon-ju Yoon, and Ju-hong Nam
(From left of photo) Seung-hyeon Song, Professor of Department of Electronics Engineering, Chang-kyu Yoon, Professor of Department of Mechanical Systems Engineering
〇 Title of Paper: “Untethered Actuation of Hybrid Hydrogel Gripper via Ultrasound”
- Co-lead Authors: Hye-gyo Son (4th year in Department of Mechanical Systems Engineering), Eun-jeong Byeon (4th year in Department of Electronics Engineering)
- Co-author: Yeon-ju Yoon (4th year in Department of Mechanical Systems Engineering), Ju-hong Nam (4th year in Department of Electronics Engineering)
Soft robots made of flexible materials rather than hard metals can move flexibly in the sea or in rough terrain, allowing them to be used in various fields such as medicine, exploration, disaster, and manufacturing. According to Prof. Yoon and Prof. Song, most of the small soft robots developed to date could only change their shape and form in response to temperature, pH, and light.
However, the soft robot developed by the convergence research team is an intelligent robot that changes shape by reacting directly to ultrasonic waves. Ultrasound is usually used only as a device to check nonvisible images inside the body, but when the soft robot becomes practical, it is possible to construct a system that controls the soft robot inside the body with ultrasonic waves, checks the position at the same time, and controls movement with a magnetic field.
If a small wireless soft robot can accurately perform missions such as biopsy or drug delivery wirelessly, its potential for use in the future smart healthcare field is expected to be endless.
The Convergence Research Team, consisting of senior students in the Department of Mechanical Systems Engineering and Department of Electronics Engineering, achieved such feats by practically applying the professional competence and training guidelines of new technologies in the healthcare system field among the smart mobility and healthcare system SMHM programs in the LINC+ 4th industrial revolution innovation leading project.
It is meaningful that it has succeeded in such developments by forming an interdisciplinary convergence team beyond fragmentary reorganization of subjects and adjusting the direction of classes, and incorporating the knowledge learned in the field of healthcare into actual research. Professor Yoon said, “The experience of achievement that students gained through joint collaboration will be a great asset toward becoming team members and leaders even after graduation,” and “I hope the convergence research initiated within the College of Engineering can spread to research teams in other majors such as natural sciences, humanities, social sciences, and arts.”