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We create mechanical metamaterials whose response to uniaxial compression can be programmed by lateral confinement, allowing monotonic, non-monotonic and hysteretic behavior. These functionalities arise from a broken rotational symmetry…
Shape-morphing structures, which are able to change their shapes from one state to another, are important in a wide range of engineering applications. A popular scenario is morphing from an initial two-dimensional (2D) shape that is flat to…
Harnessing the rich nonlinear dynamics of highly-deformable materials has the potential to unlock the next generation of functional smart materials and devices. However, unlocking such potential requires effective strategies to spatially…
Autonomous deployment and shape reconfiguration of structures is a crucial field of research in space exploration with emerging applications in the automotive, building and biomedical industries. Challenges in achieving autonomy include:…
Previous mechanical meta-structures used for mechanical memory storage, computing and information processing are severely constrained by low information density and/or non-robust structural stiffness to stably protect the maintained…
Modular small-scale robots offer the potential for on-demand assembly and disassembly, enabling task-specific adaptation in dynamic and constrained environments. However, existing modular magnetic platforms often depend on workspace…
Topology optimization offers great opportunities to design permanent magnetic systems that have specific external field characteristics. Additive manufacturing of polymer bonded magnets with an end-user 3D printer can be used to manufacture…
Nematic elastomers and glasses are solids that display spontaneous distortion under external stimuli. Recent advances in the synthesis of sheets with controlled heterogeneities have enabled their actuation into non-trivial shapes with…
Machines enabled the Industrial Revolution and are central to modern technological progress: A machine's parts transmit forces, motion, and energy to one another in a predetermined manner. Today's engineering frontier, building artificial…
Aeronautics research has continually sought to achieve the adaptability and morphing performance of avian wings, but in practice, wings of all scales continue to use the same hinged control-surface embodiment. Recent research into compliant…
Thin-walled structures capable of large, reversible deformation are key to multistable structures, origami, kirigami, and soft robotics. However, conventional fabrication techniques, including 3D printing, casting, and laser cutting, suffer…
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…
The possibility of producing polymer-bonded magnets with the aid of additive processes, such as 3D printing, opens up a multitude of new areas of application. Almost any structures and prototypes can be produced cost-effectively in small…
The ability to engineer complex three-dimensional shapes from planar sheets with precise, programmable control underpins emerging technologies in soft robotics, reconfigurable devices, and functional materials. Here, we present a…
Kirigami, the traditional paper-cutting craft, holds immense potential for revolutionizing robotics by providing multifunctional, lightweight, and adaptable solutions. Kirigami structures, characterized by their bending-dominated…
The emergence of metamaterial has provided an unprecedented ability to manipulate electromagnetic waves, especially in the terahertz band where there is a lack of natural response materials. However, most metamaterials are fixed single…
Structures and/or materials with engineered functionality, capable of achieving targeted mechanical responses reacting to changes in external excitation, have various potential engineering applications, e.g. aerospace, oceanographic…
Active metamaterials are a type of metamaterial with tunable properties enabled by structural reconfigurations. Existing active metamaterials often achieve only a limited number of structural reconfigurations upon the application of an…
The hallmark feature of polymorphic systems is their ability to assemble into many possible structures at the same thermodynamic state. Designer polymorphic materials can in principle be engineered via programmable self-assembly, but the…
Flexible surfaces can modulate fluid forces through deformation, enabling passive adaptation to flow conditions. Here we show that kirigami sheets, planar surfaces patterned with arrays of parallel slits, provide a simple route to tunable…