Daniela Macari
Ph.D. Student
70569 Stuttgart
Germany
Daniela Macari is a doctoral researcher in the Robotic Materials Department at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems and a Doctoral Fellow of the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems. Her research focuses on developing novel materials for high-performance HASEL (hydraulically amplified self-healing electrostatic) artificial muscles, with applications in wearable technologies, healthcare devices, and soft robotic systems.
Daniela pursued her education in mechanical engineering at the Technical Universities of Berlin and Munich and completed a Master's level academic exchange at CentraleSupélec in Paris. Before starting her PhD, she gained experience at the intersection of academia and industry, working on power-drive efficiency and human-centered telemedical robotics.
Robotic Materials Soft Robotics Artificial Muscles Functional Polymers Soft Transducers
A Soft, Fast and Versatile Electrohydraulic Gripper with Capacitive Object Size Detection
The Robotic Materials Department at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems has developed a new class of multi-material electrohydraulic bending actuators which enable soft and reconfigurable grippers with embodied intelligence. They actuate rapidly and conform to their target, allowing for fast and damage-free gripping of irregular, deformable and fragile objects. Each bending actuator can simultaneously be used as a capacitive sensor, enabling real-time pick verification and object size detection.