Progress on Microfabrication
Progress on Microfabrication
June 2023 Updates
Last update I talked about my two step plan for having a positive impact on the world. Here’s that plan again:
Do research to deeply understand a technical gap in society.
Create a plan to solve it.
I’ve been continuing to iterate using this framework. Here’s what I’ve been up to in the last few months.
What’s New
I’m working on a process to microfabricate artificial muscle fiber. The end goal is to build some really interesting robots at a much lower complexity.
The specifications I’m aiming for are:
Width of a human hair (30-80 microns), a few centimetres long.
Modular: connect them in parallel and in series to scale forces.
High-frequency controllable actuation I/O.
The design is based on electrostatic actuators. Compression happens via the coulombic attraction between the two electrodes of a charged capacitor. By stacking a bunch of these one on-top of the other, you get a muscle fiber.
I’ve been tinkering on the design at the Toronto Nanofabrication Center. Here’s some fun pictures of me at the lab. And I recently recorded this video with more context on my project. Check it out!
Doing the microfabrication has been really fun, but I’m actually working on another design at the same time. The iteration time for microfabrication has been pretty slow, and it’s not exactly cheap.
This other design is far more simple, and uses just two strips of folded anodized aluminum foil. I’ve been tinkering on it in my garage, and I’ll have some more updates on it soon.
Some other cool stuff
I’m going to be in SF for the next 2 weeks. If you’re around and want to catch up, or know anyone I should talk to, let me know!
I’ve been doing research part-time for Atomic Semi. It’s been incredibly interesting and rewarding work.
I’m roadtripping from Toronto to North Carolina later this summer to participate in Rabbitheleathon. Going to be a fun drive!
That’s it for this month. See you next time.