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We report on an extension of a cross-cultural collaborative project between students and faculty at DePauw University in the United States and Shibaura Institute of Technology in Japan. The ongoing project uses cross-cultural teams to design and evaluate virtual companion robots for university students with the goal of gaining a deeper understanding of the role that kawaii (Japanese cuteness) plays in fostering positive human response to, and acceptance of, robots across cultures. Members of two cross-cultural teams designed virtual companion robots with specific kawaii attributes. Using these robots, we conducted the first phase of a two-phase user study to understand perceptions of these companion robots. The findings demonstrate that participants judge round companion robots to be more kawaii than angular ones and they also judge colorful robots to be more kawaii than greyscale robots. The phase one study identified pairs of robots that are the most appropriate candidates for conducting further investigations. The appropriateness of these pairs holds across male and female participates as well as across participants whose primary culture is American and those whose primary culture is Japanese. This work prepares us to perform a more detailed study across genders and cultures using both survey results and biosensors. In turn, this will inform our long-term goal of designing robots that are appealing across gender and culture. 

Abstract The ability to deploy a planar surface to a desired convex profile with a simple actuation can enhance foldable or morphing airfoils, deployable antennae and reflectors, and other applications where a specific profile geometry is desired from a planar sheet. A model using a system of rigid links joined by torsional springs of tailorable stiffness is employed to create an approximate curved surface when two opposing tip loads are applied. A system of equations describing the shape of the surface during deployment is developed. The physical implementation of the model uses compliant torsion bars as the torsion springs. A multidimensional optimization algorithm is presented to place joints to minimize the error from the rigid-link approximation and account for additional manufacturing and stress considerations in the torsion bars. A proof is presented to show that equal torsion spring spacing along the horizontal axis of deployed parabolic profiles will result in minimizing the area between the model’s rigid-link approximation and smooth curve. The model is demonstrated through the physical construction of a deployable airfoil surface and a metallic deployable parabolic reflector. 

Abstract The ability to deploy a planar surface to a desired convex profile can enhance foldable or morphing airfoils, deployable antennae and reflectors, and other applications where a specific profile geometry is desired from a planar sheet. A model using a system of rigid links joined by torsional springs of tailorable stiffness is employed to create an approximate curved surface when two opposing tip loads are applied. The physical implementation of the model uses compliant torsion bars as the torsion springs. A multidimensional optimization algorithm is presented to minimize the error from the rigid-link approximation and account for additional manufacturing and stress considerations in the torsion bars. A proof is presented to show that equal torsion spring spacing along the horizontal axis of deployed parabolic profiles will result in minimizing the area between the model’s rigid-link approximation and smooth curve. The model is demonstrated through the physical construction of a deployable airfoil surface and a metallic deployable parabolic reflector. 

Correction for ‘Optimizing accuracy and efficacy in data-driven materials discovery for the solar production of hydrogen’ by Yihuang Xionget al.,Energy Environ. Sci., 2021,14, 2335–2348; DOI: 10.1039/D0EE02984J. 

The trend toward smaller mechanism footprints and volumes, while maintaining the ability to perform complex tasks, presents the opportunity for exploration of hypercompact mechanical systems integrated with curved surfaces. Developable surfaces are shapes that a flat sheet can take without tearing or stretching, and they represent a wide range of manufactured surfaces. This work introduces “developable mechanisms” as devices that emerge from or conform to developable surfaces. They are made possible by aligning hinge axes with developable surface ruling lines to enable mobility. Because rigid-link motion depends on the relative orientation of hinge axes and not link geometry, links can take the shape of the corresponding developable surface. Mechanisms are classified by their associated surface type, and these relationships are defined and demonstrated by example. Developable mechanisms show promise for meeting unfilled needs using systems not previously envisioned. 

Abstract Catalytic interface of semiconductor photoelectrodes is critical for high-performance photoelectrochemical solar water splitting because of its multiple roles in light absorption, electrocatalysis, and corrosion protection. Nevertheless, simultaneously optimizing each of these processes represents a materials conundrum owing to conflicting requirements of materials attributes at the electrode surface. Here we show an approach that can circumvent these challenges by collaboratively exploiting corrosion-resistant surface stoichiometry and structurally-tailored reactive interface. Nanoporous, density-graded surface of ‘black’ gallium indium phosphide (GaInP₂), when combined with ammonium-sulfide-based surface passivation, effectively reduces reflection and surface recombination of photogenerated carriers for high efficiency photocatalysis in the hydrogen evolution half-reaction, but also augments electrochemical durability with lifetime over 124 h via strongly suppressed kinetics of corrosion. Such synergistic control of stoichiometry and structure at the reactive interface provides a practical pathway to concurrently enhance efficiency and durability of semiconductor photoelectrodes without solely relying on the development of new protective materials. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has extensively changed the state of psychological science from what research questions psychologists can ask to which methodologies psychologists can use to investigate them. In this article, we offer a perspective on how to optimize new research in the pandemic’s wake. Because this pandemic is inherently a social phenomenon—an event that hinges on human-to-human contact—we focus on socially relevant subfields of psychology. We highlight specific psychological phenomena that have likely shifted as a result of the pandemic and discuss theoretical, methodological, and practical considerations of conducting research on these phenomena. After this discussion, we evaluate metascientific issues that have been amplified by the pandemic. We aim to demonstrate how theoretically grounded views on the COVID-19 pandemic can help make psychological science stronger—not weaker—in its wake.