ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 28 -- United States Patent no. 12,453,287, issued on Oct. 21.
"Optical actuator" was invented by Gregory Scott Fischer (Boston), Paulo Alberto Carvalho (Worcester, Mass.), Zhanyue Zhao (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and Christopher Julius Nycz (Wallkill, N.Y.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An actuator (100) powered by photonic energy comprises a rotor including a material (101) which deforms from a first underformed state when exposed to electromagnetic radiation to a second deformed state and begins to return to the first state when the electromagnetic radiation is removed. A stationary element (102) is affixed to the rotor. A moving element (105) engaging the stator at least when...