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Zihan Oliver Zeng

Publications and source records attributed to Zihan Oliver Zeng.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

Mycoponically Integrated Network Device for Multimodal Sensing with Living Mycelial Networks

Living mycelial filaments integrate chemical, optical, mechanical, thermal, and biological information via electrophysiological cellular trans-membrane potential. The challenge is to create a mycology interface that sustains metabolism, standardizes electrode geometry, and tolerates mechanical damage. Using mycoponics we overcome these factors that limited prior demonstrations to single modalities, and operational windows of days to weeks. We present MIND, an engineered biophysical interface integrating antimicrobial nutrient delivery (ceramic size exclusion) with non-invasive electrophysiology, in cylindrical (MINDTube) and planar (MINDPixel) form-factors. The platform sustains colonized \textit{Pleurotus ostreatus} mycelium beyond 11 months and distinguishes 14 stimulus classes from a single unmodified device. Steady-state intensity responses follow Hill-type calibration functions across five phylogenetically diverse fungi grown on the identical interface, making strain selection a tunable design parameter. Multichannel decoding from the standardized electrode geometry recovers stimulus duration, location, and trajectory. Continuous nutrition provided by mycoponics recovered complete electrophysiological function within 72 h after mechanical excision. MIND converts living mycelium networks into universal, self-repairing, biosensors.

cs.ET↗

VSL-Skin: Individually Addressable Phase-Change Voxel Skin for Variable-Stiffness and Virtual Joints Bridging Soft and Rigid Robots

Soft robots are compliant but often cannot support loads or hold their shape, while rigid robots provide structural strength but are less adaptable. Existing variable-stiffness systems usually operate at the scale of whole segments or patches, which limits precise control over stiffness distribution and virtual joint placement. This paper presents the Variable Stiffness Lattice Skin (VSL-Skin), the first system to enable individually addressable voxel-level morphological control with centimeter-scale precision. The system provides three main capabilities: nearly two orders of magnitude stiffness modulation across axial (15-1200 N/mm), shear (45-850 N/mm), bending (8*10^2 - 3*10^4 N/deg), and torsional modes with centimeter-scale spatial control; the first demonstrated 30% axial compression in phase-change systems while maintaining structural integrity; and autonomous component-level self-repair through thermal cycling, which eliminates fatigue accumulation and enables programmable sacrificial joints for predictable failure management. Selective voxel activation creates six canonical virtual joint types with programmable compliance while preserving structural integrity in non-activated regions. The platform incorporates closed-form design models and finite element analysis for predictive synthesis of stiffness patterns and joint placement. Experimental validation demonstrates 30% axial contraction, thermal switching in 75-second cycles, and cut-to-fit integration that preserves addressability after trimming. The row-column architecture enables platform-agnostic deployment across diverse robotic systems without specialized infrastructure. This framework establishes morphological intelligence as an engineerable system property and advances autonomous reconfigurable robotics.

cs.RO↗