Satoshi Nakamaru

ZOZO Technologies · ZOZO Research Z

We succeeded in the wide-range control of the period for the swelling-deswelling self-oscillation of a novel polymer gel by selection of the initial concentration of the Belouzov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) substrates and the temperature. The novel polymer gel was composed of a non-thermoresponsive and biocompatible poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) main chain cov...

In this paper we discuss the development of a novel rapid prototyping method that makes the process of creating tangible electronic artifacts faster and easier. This method makes use of a new paper-like material that can be given any form just by hand or by using other stationary objects. This material changes its stiffness and becomes harder soon...

Provided is a thin three-dimensional interactive display which enables multi-touch sensing and three-dimensional gesture recognition. The three-dimensional interactive display includes a light source for irradiating an object to be detected with a light, a light modulation layer, into which a scattered light generated by irradiating the object with...

We introduce MorphIO, entirely soft sensing and actuation modules for programming by demonstration of soft robots and shape-changing interfaces.MorphIO's hardware consists of a soft pneumatic actuator containing a conductive sponge sensor.This allows both input and output of three-dimensional deformation of a soft material.Leveraging this capabilit...

In this paper, we propose a new system called xSlate, a stiffness controlled surface for shape changing interfaces. It is enabled by a deformable frame structure that consists of linear actuators, and an elastic skin surface that can configure its stiffness by pneumatic jamming. We describe the implementation methods of xSlate and how it can be use...

Here we report the new soft sensor "FoamSense" that can measure the deformation state of a volumetric soft object such as compressed, bent, twisted and sheared (Figure 1). This sensor is made by impregnating a porous soft object with conductive ink. The design process of FoamSense is explained. We then summarized the features and basic characterist...

Electron transfer across proteins plays an important role in many biological processes, including those relevant for the conversion of solar photons to chemical energy. Previous studies demonstrated the generation of photocurrents upon light irradiation in a number of photoactive proteins, such as photosystem I or bacteriorhodopsin. Here, it is sho...

For coupling pH-responsive gels and the CT reaction, it is quite important to achieve large volume changes of the gels, because the stabilities of the steady states depend on the gel sizes. Also, the speed of volume change has a high correlation with the contraction wave shape. However, in general, the reactivities of hydrogels composed of chemical...

In this paper, we introduce autonomous gel actuators driven by chemical energy. The polymer gels prepared here have cyclic chemical reaction networks. With a cyclic reaction, the polymer gels generate periodical motion. The periodic motion of the gel is produced by the chemical energy of the oscillatory Belouzov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction. We have s...

mentioned. Therefore, the poly(NIPAAm-co-Ru(bpy)3) self-oscillating gel generated the small mechanical oscillation. In order to produce the large mechanical oscillation in comparison with the gel size, the self-oscillating gel has to response firstly to the rate of the BZ reaction. For realizing this purpose, we prepared the microphase-separated se...

In our previous studies, we succeeded in construction self-oscillating gel actuator such as a self-walking gel and a dynamic motion of a gel actuator. However, the speed of the swelling-deswelling self-oscillation is too slow in order to realize practical chemical robot. In this study, we succeeded in the wide-range control of the period for the sw...