Qiu-Hua Gao

Shanghai Jiao Tong University | SJTU · Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME)

Smart floor is an indispensable component of future smart buildings, it is urgent to develop a low-cost, self-powered, and high reliability smart floor. Herein, we propose a disposable cups inspired self-powered smart floor (DCIS-floor) for trajectory recognition and human-interactive sensing. The conical surface of the cup-shaped triboelectric nan...

Magnetic levitation (MagLev) is a promising technology for density‐based analysis and manipulation of nonmagnetic materials. One major limitation is that extant MagLev methods are based on the static balance of gravitational‐magnetic forces, thereby leading to an inability to resolve interior differences in density. Here a new strategy called “dyna...

Soft robots capable of flexible deformations and agile locomotion similar to biological systems are highly desirable for promising applications, including safe human-robot interactions and biomedical engineering. Their achievable degree of freedom and motional deftness are limited by the actuation modes and controllable dimensions of constituent so...

Magnetic levitation (MagLev) provides a simple but promising method for density-based analysis and detection down to the individual cell level. However, each existing MagLev configuration for the single-cell density measurement, mainly consisting of a capillary (∼50 mm) placed between two magnets, yields a fairly low sample utilization because of n...

In this study, a human-friendly biomechanical energy harvester (HF-BEH) utilizing cooperative compliant traction mechanism is proposed. The knee joint is used to drive the harvester through a compliant medium without wearing any mechanical components. The driving force is large, and there is no added weight and restraint on the knee joint. The work...

Small wind harvesting can be integrated with sensors for self-powered environmental ecological monitoring, climate monitoring, natural disaster monitoring and on-site infrastructure monitoring, which is of great importance for protecting and improving the living environment of human beings. However, the randomness and irregularity of wind seriously...

To realize the sustainable energy supply of wireless sensor networks, a novel dynamically synergistic regulation mechanism is proposed for rotation energy harvesting under the guidance of the dynamic regulation evolution. The connotation of synergy includes: (1) Nonlinear magnetic force and variable stiffness (centrifugal stiffening effect and pena...

This study presents a new magnetically coupled bistable piezoelectric energy harvesting approach for underwater applications. The flextensional piezoelectric transducer is used to harvest the energy of fluid induced vibration by magnetic coupling. Because of non-contact mechanical energy transfer, vulnerable key components can be packaged without a...

Soft robots show excellent body compliance, adaptability, and mobility when coping with unstructured environments and human–robot interactions. However, the moving speed for soft locomotion robots is far from that of their rigid partners. Rolling locomotion can provide a promising solution for developing high-speed robots. Based on different rollin...

Vibration energy harvesting is a promising approach for sustainable energy generation from ambience to meet the development of self-powered systems. Here, we propose a novel compact non-resonant magnetically modulated rotational energy harvester (MMR-EH) for low frequency and irregular vibration. Through the rational arrangement of multiple magneti...

As a typical contact-free manipulation technique that removes friction and contamination risk, levitation has gradually become a preferred candidate for various applications. Magnetic levitation using diamagnetism, beyond Earnshaw’s theorem, is a kind of passive stable levitation that can be achieved at normal temperatures with no energy input. App...

Inspired by the safe landing of a cat falling from a high altitude, a bio-inspired polygonal skeleton (BIPS) structure is proposed, and its nonlinear characteristics are systematically studied to explore its potential application in the suppression of vibration. The polygon is formed by the skeleton structure of the cat’s entire body and the ground...

Quasi-zero stiffness (QZS) is beneficial for low-frequency vibration isolation. However, most isolators based on QZS have a small working stroke and a limited load capacity, which hinders applications in many environments. Here, a large stroke QZS vibration isolator using three-link mechanisms (TLMs) is proposed. We design a symmetric polygon struc...

Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) exhibit many fascinating advantages, including high compliance, large actuation strain, fast response, high energy density and efficiency. These muscle-like properties make them suitable for robotic and mechatronic applications especially the actuation of soft robots. However, such actuators have experienced hi...

Human energy harvesting for powering wearable or portable electronics has been extensively studied. We propose an electromagnetic energy harvester with a magnetic orbit (EMH-MO) for low-frequency and irregular human motion energy harvesting. A circular uniform low potential orbit is designed using the reasonable arrangement of multiple magnetic fie...

This work explores the design of a magnetic levitation configuration enhanced by a dual-Halbach array that enables density-based measurement and manipulation in a flexible, open-plan space. The two-parallel arranged Halbach arrays with concentrated magnetic flux allow the use of magnetic gradients parallel to the faces of the magnets to levitate sa...

Recent years have seen a rising class of methods and technologies in magnetic manupulation. Magneto-Archimedes effect, a less intuitive way to direct nonmagnetic matter without binding them to magnetic particles, has emerged as a preferred candidate for label-free manipulation of inanimate and living matters at macroscale and microscale. Due to its...

Magnetic levitation (MagLev) of diamagnetic materials in a paramagnetic medium under a magnetic field gradient provides an effective tool to measure the densities of samples. In this study, a centrifugal magnetic levitation approach for high-reliability density measurement is presented. Based on the balance of the magnetic forces, centrifugal force...

In this letter, a density measurement method by magnetic levitation using the rotation mechanism is presented. By rotating the entire magnetic levitation device that consists of four identical magnets, the horizontal centrifugal force and gravity can be balanced by the magnetic forces in the x-direction and the z-direction, respectively. The contro...

Energy can be harvested from rotational motion for powering wireless autonomous electronic devices. In this paper, a novel magnetically coupled flextensional rotation energy harvester (MF-REH) is designed, with the advantages of high equivalent piezoelectric constant and high reliability. The coupled dynamical model is developed to describe the ele...

Energy can be harvested from rotational motion for powering wireless autonomous electronic devices. The paper presents a magnetically coupled two-degree-of-freedom vibration energy harvester for rotary motion applications. The design consists of two inverted piezoelectric cantilever beams whose free ends point to the rotating shaft. The centrifugal...