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Architectural transformations play a key role in the evolution of complex systems, from design algorithms for metamaterials to flow and plasticity of disordered media. Here, we develop a general framework for the evolution of the linear…
Magnetic soft robots embedded with hard magnetic particles enable untethered actuation via external magnetic fields, offering remote, rapid, and precise control, which is highly promising for biomedical applications. However, designing such…
To ensure that a robot is able to accomplish an extensive range of tasks, it is necessary to achieve a flexible combination of multiple behaviors. This is because the design of task motions suited to each situation would become increasingly…
Snapping beams enable rapid geometric transitions through nonlinear instability, offering an efficient means of generating motion in soft robotic systems. In this study, a tendon-driven mechanism consisting of spiral-based metabeams was…
A hallmark of living systems is the ability to employ a common set of versatile building blocks that can self-organize into a multitude of different structures, in a way that can be controlled with minimal cost. This capability can only be…
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…
Mechanical metamaterials owe their extraordinary properties and functionalities to their micro-/nanoscale design of which shape, including both geometry and topology, is perhaps the most important aspect. 4D printing enables programmed,…
Mechanical metamaterials are artificially engineered microstructures that exhibit novel mechanical behavior on the macroscopic scale. Active metamaterials can be externally controlled. Pneumatically actuated metamaterials can change their…
Molecular dynamics simulations are often used to provide feedback in the design workflow of DNA nanostructures. However, even with coarse-grained models, convergence of distributions from unbiased simulation is slow, limiting applications…
We introduce a new class of thin flexible structures that morph from a flat shape into prescribed 3D shapes without an external stimulus such as mechanical loads or heat. To achieve control over the target shape, two different concepts are…
Despite the extensive studies of topological systems, the experimental characterizations of strongly nonlinear topological phases have been lagging. To address this shortcoming, we design and build elliptically geared isostatic…
Soft robots are distinguished by their flexibility and adaptability, allowing them to perform nearly impossible tasks for rigid robots. However, controlling their behavior is challenging due to their nonlinear material response and infinite…
A micromorphic computational homogenization framework has recently been developed to deal with materials showing long-range correlated interactions, i.e. displaying patterning modes. Typical examples of such materials are elastomeric…
Engineering synthetic materials that mimic the remarkable complexity of living organisms is a fundamental challenge in science and technology. We study the spatiotemporal patterns that emerge when an active nematicfilm of microtubules and…
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…
This article reviews recent inverse statistical-mechanical methodologies that we have devised to optimize interaction potentials in soft matter systems that correspond to stable "target" structures. We are interested in finding the…
Many structural properties of conventional passive materials are known to arise from the symmetries of their microscopic constituents. By contrast, it is largely unclear how the interplay between cell shape and self-propulsion controls the…
The deformable and continuum nature of soft robots promises versatility and adaptability. However, control of modular, multi-limbed soft robots for terrestrial locomotion is challenging due to the complex robot structure, actuator mechanics…
Topologies of large deformation Contact-aided Compliant Mechanisms (CCMs), with self and mutual contact, exemplified via path generation applications, are designed using the continuum synthesis approach. Design domains are parameterized…
Mechanical metamaterials are artificial composites with tunable advanced mechanical properties. Particularly interesting types of mechanical metamaterials are flexible metamaterials, which harness internal rotations and instabilities to…