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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 Sep 26.
Published in final edited form as: Adv Funct Mater. 2014 May 12;24(30):4860–4866. doi: 10.1002/adfm.201304037

Figure 8.

Figure 8

Microfluidic thermally activated materials can be assembled into a gripping device that can be actuated using thermal perfusion. Rapid rigid-compliant transitions can be used to grip objects without direct mechanical actuation. Four phases of device operation are shown: (1) Pre-grip phase (Tgrip < 25 °C) with rigid structures; (2) Deformation (Tgrip > 65 °C) where the compliant structures ensconce an object; (3) Integration (Tgrip < 65 °C) in which the rigid structures secure the object; (4) Manipulation (Tgrip < 25 °C) in which the rigid gripper elevates the object. Scale bar indicates 2 cm.