Reference number : GC-2017-Q4-00094, amendment number : , agreement type : G, recipient legal name : Bacca, Mattia (The University of British Columbia), recipient country : CA, recipient province : nan, recipient city : British Columbia|Colombie-Britannique, recipient postal code : nan, program name english : Engage Grants for universities, program name french : Subventions d'engagement partenarial pour les universités, program purpose english : From the recent advances in digital computing and the growing importance of automation in our society, the_x000D_
emerging need for in-depth understanding of physical phenomena that are apparently simple and overlooked in_x000D_
everyday life is evident. Think, for example, of a robot which task is to pick-and-place a product without_x000D_
breaking it and repeat the operation multiple times at a pace that can satisfy the expected production rate. Each_x000D_
simple movement needs to be calibrated and one must predict the effect of it with fine detail. This gives merit_x000D_
to the creation of a virtual scenario via digital computing in which the user can depict every possible_x000D_
consequence of action and chart the optimal path to the best performance. Now let us extend this concept to the_x000D_
engineering design of manufactured goods that interact with the human body and, in particular, to the case of_x000D_
wearable technology. Optimal design of clothes, bandages and other devices, which functionality lies in contact_x000D_
with human skin, can only be achieved from virtual representation of the physiology of the human body. In_x000D_
particular, for this case, one needs to virtually reproduce the physiology of human skin, which can only be done_x000D_
with previous fundamental understanding of its bio-chemo-mechanical behavior. This is the central interest of_x000D_
the proposed research, which focuses on the phenomena of adhesion and friction. It will involve numerical_x000D_
investigations and in-vivo experimental measurement of the physical properties of skin with particular attention_x000D_
to the relation of them with the physical and geometrical properties of the adhering material (stiffness and_x000D_
surface roughness). Moreover, the investigation will consider the variability of environmental and_x000D_
physiological conditions such as the level of moisture (sweat) and temperature. These have proven to be_x000D_
influential in the aforementioned framework since for example skin is commonly stickier when sweating. The_x000D_
model will finally contribute to the development of advanced software for the improved design of wearable_x000D_
technology and for realistic virtual representations of living entities (computer graphics)., program purpose french : From the recent advances in digital computing and the growing importance of automation in our society, the_x000D_
emerging need for in-depth understanding of physical phenomena that are apparently simple and overlooked in_x000D_
everyday life is evident. Think, for example, of a robot which task is to pick-and-place a product without_x000D_
breaking it and repeat the operation multiple times at a pace that can satisfy the expected production rate. Each_x000D_
simple movement needs to be calibrated and one must predict the effect of it with fine detail. This gives merit_x000D_
to the creation of a virtual scenario via digital computing in which the user can depict every possible_x000D_
consequence of action and chart the optimal path to the best performance. Now let us extend this concept to the_x000D_
engineering design of manufactured goods that interact with the human body and, in particular, to the case of_x000D_
wearable technology. Optimal design of clothes, bandages and other devices, which functionality lies in contact_x000D_
with human skin, can only be achieved from virtual representation of the physiology of the human body. In_x000D_
particular, for this case, one needs to virtually reproduce the physiology of human skin, which can only be done_x000D_
with previous fundamental understanding of its bio-chemo-mechanical behavior. This is the central interest of_x000D_
the proposed research, which focuses on the phenomena of adhesion and friction. It will involve numerical_x000D_
investigations and in-vivo experimental measurement of the physical properties of skin with particular attention_x000D_
to the relation of them with the physical and geometrical properties of the adhering material (stiffness and_x000D_
surface roughness). Moreover, the investigation will consider the variability of environmental and_x000D_
physiological conditions such as the level of moisture (sweat) and temperature. These have proven to be_x000D_
influential in the aforementioned framework since for example skin is commonly stickier when sweating. The_x000D_
model will finally contribute to the development of advanced software for the improved design of wearable_x000D_
technology and for realistic virtual representations of living entities (computer graphics)., agreement title english : Contact biomechanics, adhesion and friction of human skin, agreement title french : Contact biomechanics, adhesion and friction of human skin, agreement number : EGP, agreement value : 23000.0, agreement start date : 2018-03-07, agreement end date : nan, description english : nan, description french : nan, expected results english : nan, expected results french : nan, additional information english : Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year (2017-2018 to 2018-2019)., additional information french : Subvention ou bourse octroyée s'appliquant à plus d'un exercice financier (2017-2018 à 2018-2019)., owner organization : nserc-crsng, owner organization title : Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada | Conseil de recherches en sciences naturelles et en génie du Canada