Hydrogel bandages use ultrasound waves to make them last longer, while a newly developed method allowed researchers at the University of Minnesota to move objects hands-free using the same technology. Being able to move objects with ultrasound waves means that that contactless manipulation in industries such as manufacturing and robotics, where devices wouldn’t need an integrated power source in order to move, become a possibility.
Using metamaterial physics, researchers were able to move larger objects as they are artificially engineered to interact with waves, such as light and sound. By simply placing a metamaterial pattern on the object’s surface of, the researchers were able to use sound to manipulate it in a certain direction without actually touching it.
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Contactless manipulation is a hot area of research in optics and electromagnetism, but this research proposes another method for contactless actuation that offers advantages that other methods may not have. I think we’re charting in a new direction here and showing that without physical contact, we can move objects, and that motion can be controlled simply by programming what is on the surface of that object,” said Matthew Stein, first author on the paper.
