Contactless manipulation method could be used in industries such as robotics and manufacturing.
© University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers have discovered a new
method to move objects using ultrasound waves. The research opens the door for using contactless manipulation in industries such as manufacturing and robotics, where devices wouldn't need a built-in power source in order to move.
© Photo by Olivia Hultgren.
University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers have discovered a new method to move objects using ultrasound waves, opening the door for using contactless manipulation in industries such as robotics and manufacturing. In the above image, University of Minnesota students Matthew Stein, Yujie Luo, and Sam Keller interact with an object that has a metamaterial surface.
The study is published in
Nature Communications, a peer-reviewed, open-access scientific journal.
While it's been demonstrated before that light and sound waves can manipulate objects, the objects have always been smaller than the wavelength of sound or light, or on the order of millimeters to nanometers, respectively.
The University of Minnesota team has developed a method that can move larger objects using the principles of metamaterial physics.
Metamaterials are materials that are artificially engineered to interact with waves, like light and sound. By placing a metamaterial pattern on the surface of an object, the researchers were able to use sound to steer it in a certain direction without physically touching it.
"We have known for a while that waves and light and sound can manipulate objects. What sets our research apart is that we can manipulate and trap much bigger objects if we make their surface a metamaterial surface, or a 'metasurface,'" said Ognjen Ilic, senior author of the study and the Benjamin Mayhugh Assistant Professor in the University of Minnesota Department of Mechanical Engineering.
"When we place these tiny patterns on the surface of the objects, we can basically reflect the sound in any direction we want. And in doing that, we can control the acoustic force that is exerted on an object."
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