Rats discriminate surface textures using their whiskers (vibrissae), but how whiskers extract texture information, and how this information is encoded by the brain, are not known. In the resonance model, whisker motion across different textures excites mechanical resonance in distinct subsets of whiskers, due to variation across whiskers in resonance frequency, which varies with whisker length....

This work investigates effects of vibrotactile stimuli and auditory feedback in perceiving roughness. One of objectives in the research is to derive functional correlations between perceived roughness and principal elements of vibrotactile stimuli. A tactile display device having a 5x6 pin array has been developed as the test bed for the quantitative experiment. Sandpapers were used as specimen...

Biological terrestrial locomotion occurs on substrate materials with a range of rheological behaviour, which can affect limb-ground interaction, locomotor mode and performance. Surfaces like sand, a granular medium, can display solid or fluid-like behaviour in response to stress. Based on our previous experiments and models of a robot moving on granular media, we hypothesize that solidification...

In this study, the effect of nano-TiN layer obtained by PVD method on tribological behaviour X210Cr12 (1.2080, AISI D3) cold work tool steel was investigated. Coating process carried out cathodic-arc using 200 V voltage, 350 °C temperature, 4x10-4 mbar pressure, and 50 A current application conditions. The characterization coating FESEM SEM-EDS analysis. coated uncoated samples were subjected t...

Porous ultra-high-temperature ceramics (UHTCs) are a candidate group of materials for transpiration cooling hypersonic vehicles due to their exceptionally high melting point, typically above 3000 K. Their operating temperature permits higher amount radiative than that achievable with conventional materials, which reduces the required coolant mass flow rate cool surface. This work experimentally...

Abstract It is still a challenge to achieve large-area preparation of robust superhydrophobic surfaces with strong mechanical stability. Here, simple and low-cost method prepare decoupling coatings on aluminum (Al) alloys substrate has been presented. The superhydrophobicity robustness are realized by structuring at two different length scales, nanostructures for microstructures robustness. Thi...

The next generation of wearable electronics for internet things (IoT) systems, and green energy harvesting require electrically conductive materials with high flexibility, conductivity, being environmentally friendly. In this study, three biopolymers, cow's milk, soy egg white liquid, are investigated compared as spin-coated positive layers in triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). Superior resu...

We consider the dynamics of a hollow cylindrical shell that is filled with viscous fluid and another, nested solid cylinder, and allowed to roll down an inclined plane. A mathematical model is compared to simple experiments. Two types of behaviour are observed experimentally: on steeper slopes, the device accelerates; on shallower inclines, the cylinders rock and roll unsteadily downhill, with ...

The prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in dental hygienists is significantly higher than that of the general population. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of explorer weight on dental and dental hygiene students' tactile discrimination when exploring. A randomized controlled clinical trial utilizing a dual dependent statistical design was used to collect dat...

Surface roughness has been considered as an important influencing factor for cell response. The aim of this study was to find out whether MC3T3-E1 cells, a mouse osteoblast-like cell line, can sense the amplitudes of surface topography of titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V), and if surface-dependent cell morphology would be presented on the substrata with varied roughness. A series of polished samples (Ra...