Thesis subject
Developing and characterizing bio-inspired arrays of suction cups
Cuttlefish and squid are versatile predators capable of attaching to a variety of prey items within milliseconds. They do this by rapidly extending their paired tentacle stalks, which terminate in clubs equipped with suction cups. But how do these arrays of suction cups work together to attach so quickly and which factors might influence this behavior?
In order to investigate this, we are developing bio-inspired arrays of suction cups. These bio-inspired models will enable us to understand how these predators capture their prey, and also provide inspiration for new gripper technologies. We intend to develop these suction cup arrays for a wide variety of applications, including harvesting fruits and vegetables in agriculture. The developed suction cups will also be used for future sensor integration to enable real-time grasp monitoring and control in agricultural applications.
We are looking for motivated students (MSc thesis or 24 ECTS BSc thesis) who are interested in developing and characterizing cuttlefish- and squid-inspired suction cup arrays for versatile grip. During this thesis project, you will work with an interdisciplinary team of engineers, physicists, and biologists from the Experimental Zoology, BioNanoTechnology, and Agricultural Biosystems Engineering research groups. The skills you will be using and learning include: novel additive manufacturing techniques, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and materials/mechanical testing.
Please contact us via ezo.thesis@wur.nl to ask for the options.