Related papers: An Autonomous Programmable Actuator and Shape Reco…
Designing reconfigurable materials based on deformable nanoparticles (NPs) hinges on an understanding of the energetically-favored shapes these NPs can adopt. Using simulations, we show that hollow, deformable patchy NPs tailored with…
We consider programmable matter consisting of simple computational elements, called particles, that can establish and release bonds and can actively move in a self-organized way, and we investigate the feasibility of solving fundamental…
Active materials take advantage of their internal sources of energy to self-organize in an automated manner. This feature provides a novel opportunity to design micron-scale machines with minimal required control. However, self-organization…
Active materials are capable of converting free energy into mechanical work to produce autonomous motion, and exhibit striking collective dynamics that biology relies on for essential functions. Controlling those dynamics and transport in…
We study the power of uncontrolled random molecular movement in the nubot model of self-assembly. The nubot model is an asynchronous nondeterministic cellular automaton augmented with rigid-body movement rules (push/pull, deterministically…
Magnetic textures are central to emerging spintronic and unconventional computing technologies due to their rich dynamics, topological properties and nanoscale dimensions. A major challenge remains achieving tunable, reversible, and…
Consumer-level multi-material 3D printing with conductive thermoplastics enables fabrication of interactive elements for bespoke tangible devices. However, large feature sizes, high resistance materials, and limitations of printable control…
Particle-based shape modeling (PSM) is a family of approaches that automatically quantifies shape variability across anatomical cohorts by positioning particles (pseudo landmarks) on shape surfaces in a consistent configuration. Recent…
Muscles of the human body are composed of tiny actuators made up of myosin and actin filaments. They can exert force in various shapes such as curved or flat, under contact forces and deformations from the environment. On the other hand,…
Origami-inspired robots are of particular interest given their potential for rapid and accessible design and fabrication of elegant designs and complex functionalities through cutting and folding of flexible 2D sheets or even strings,…
We propose a self-organizing memory architecture for perceptual experience, capable of supporting autonomous learning and goal-directed problem solving in the absence of any prior information about the agent's environment. The architecture…
The rapid design and fabrication of soft robotic matter is of growing interest for shape morphing, actuation, and wearable devices. Here, we report a facile fabrication method for creating soft robotic materials with embedded pneumatics…
Moving a module in a modular robot is a very complex and error-prone process. Unlike in swarm, in the modular robots we are targeting, the moving module must keep the connection to, at least, one other module. In order to miniaturize each…
Programmable materials are desirable for a variety of functional applications that range from biomedical devices, actuators and soft robots to adaptive surfaces and deployable structures. However, current smart materials are often designed…
Autonomous robots need to be able to handle uncertainties when deployed in the real world. For the robot to be able to robustly work in such an environment, it needs to be able to adapt both its architecture as well as its task plan.…
Shape memory materials have gained considerable attention thanks to their ability to change physical properties when subjected to external stimuli such as temperature, pH, humidity, electromagnetic fields, etc. These materials are…
This work investigates an application-driven co-design problem where the motion and motors of a six degrees of freedom robotic manipulator are optimized simultaneously, and the application is characterized by a set of tasks. Unlike the…
We describe a combined experimental and theoretical investigation of shape-morphing structures assembled by actuating composite (Janus) fibers, taking into account multiple relevant factors affecting shape transformations, such as strain…
Liquid crystal elastomers contract along their director on heating and recover on cooling, offering great potential as actuators and artificial muscles. If a flat sheet is programmed with a spatially varying director pattern, it will…
Metamaterials achieve unprecedented properties from designed architected structures. However, they are often constructed from a single repeating building block that exhibits monotonic shape changes with single degree of freedom, thereby…