Publications by Jun Shintake | EPFL Graph Search

Edible Soft Actuators based on Konjac Glucomannan for Underwater Operation

Dario Floreano, Bokeon Kwak, Markéta Pankhurst, Ryo Kanno, Jun Shintake

Soft robots are being increasingly developed and deployed for underwater applications such as exploration, monitoring, and rescue owing to their innate compliance, mechanical and chemical stability, and waterproof properties. However, they are still predom ...

2024

Fast-Response Variable-Stiffness Magnetic Catheters for Minimally Invasive Surgery

Dario Floreano, Yegor Piskarev, Yi Sun, Jun Shintake, Matteo Righi

In minimally invasive surgery, such as cardiac ablation, magnetically steered catheters made of variable-stiffness materials can enable higher dexterity and higher force application to human tissue. However, the long transition time between soft and rigid ...

2024

Towards edible robots and robotic food

Dario Floreano, Bokeon Kwak, Markéta Pankhurst, Jun Shintake

Edible robots and robotic food — edible systems that perceive, process and act upon stimulation — could open a new range of opportunities in health care, environmental management and the promotion of healthier eating habits. For example, they could enable ...

2024

A Soft Gripper with Granular Jamming and Electroadhesive Properties

Dario Floreano, Pierre-Etienne Bourban, Yegor Piskarev, Jun Shintake, Vivek Ramachandran

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the development of universal soft grippers that can handle objects of varying form factors (including flat objects), surface conditions (including moistened or oily objects), and mechanical properties ( ...

2023

A variable stiffness magnetic catheter made of a conductive shape memory polymer for minimally invasive surgery

Dario Floreano, Yegor Piskarev, Jun Shintake

A hollow variable stiffness thread including a flexible inner tube, a conductive shape memory polymer (CSMP) layer arranged around the inner tube forming a variable stiffness zone, a flexible encapsulation layer arranged around the CSMP layer, and a first ...

2023

A Variable Stiffness Magnetic Catheter Made of a Conductive Phase-Change Polymer for Minimally Invasive Surgery

Dario Floreano, Yegor Piskarev, Jun Shintake

Variable stiffness (VS) is an important feature that significantly enhances the dexterity of magnetic catheters used in minimally invasive surgeries. Existing magnetic catheters with VS consist of sensors, heaters, and tubular structures filled with low me ...

2022

Enhancement of Pressure-Sensitive Adhesive by CO2 Laser Treatment

Dario Floreano, Yegor Piskarev, Jun Shintake, Vivek Ramachandran, Michael Dickey, Jianhang Yang

Pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSAs) are polymeric films that can be adhered to and detached from surfaces without leaving residue. Researchers are looking to enhance the bond strength between PSAs and different substrates. It can be achieved by tuning PSA' ...

2022

Towards edible drones for rescue missions: design and flight of nutritional wings

Dario Floreano, Bokeon Kwak, Jun Shintake

Drones have shown to be useful aerial vehicles for unmanned transport missions such as food and medical supply delivery. This can be leveraged to deliver life-saving nutrition and medicine for people in emergency situations. However, commercial drones can ...

IEEE2022

Lighter and Stronger: Cofabricated Electrodes and Variable Stiffness Elements in Dielectric Actuators

Dario Floreano, Yegor Piskarev, Jun Shintake, Vivek Ramachandran, Michael Dickey

The inherent compliance of soft robots often makes it difficult for them to exert forces on surrounding surfaces or withstand mechanical loading. Controlled stiffness is a solution to empower soft robots with the ability to apply large forces on their envi ...

2020

Phase Changing Materials-Based Variable-Stiffness Tensegrity Structures

Dario Floreano, Jun Shintake, Davide Zappetti

Soft robots leverage deformable bodies to achieve different types of locomotion, improve transportability, and safely navigate cluttered environments. In this context, variable-stiffness structures provide soft robots with additional properties, such as th ...

2020