European grant for Raffaella Carloni (ALICE), member of the DSSC

The project MAGNIFY , coordinated by Prof. dr. Raffaella Carloni, was awarded a EU FET OPEN grant of 3 million euro, of which 1 million euro is assigned to Groningen. The goal of MAGNIFY is to design and realize a new generation of artificial muscles for robotic systems, characterized by high force-to-weight ratio, high flexibility, fast reacting properties, and intrinsic rigidity tuning. The project will use billions of artificial molecular machines, organized in polymer electrospun nanofibers and controlled by electrical stimuli, to realize an artificial macroscopic muscle.*

* Prof. Carloni coordinates another grant winning project, "MyLeg" (Smart and intuitive osseointegrated transfemoral prostheses embodying advanced dynamic behaviors), which aims to develop a new generation of powered transfemoral prosthetic legs that can be intuitively operated, sensed, and trusted as the healthy and reliable counterpart for a variety of tasks.