Related papers: Three-dimensional transformable modular kirigami b…
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…
Mechanical waves that travel without inertia are often encountered in nature -- e.g. motion of plants -- yet such waves remain rare in synthetic materials. Here, we discover the emergence of slow kinks in overdamped metamaterials and we…
This study examines a biology-inspired approach of using reconfigurable articulation to reduce the control requirement for soft robotic arms. We construct a robotic arm by assembling Kresling origami modules that exhibit predictable…
The art and science of folding intricate three-dimensional structures out of paper has occupied artists, designers, engineers, and mathematicians for decades, culminating in the design of deployable structures and mechanical metamaterials.…
Multifunctional lattice materials are of great interest to modern engineering including aerospace, robotics, wave control, and sensing. In this work, we proposed and developed a new class of functional lattice materials called liquid metal…
We explore the surprisingly rich energy landscape of origami-like folding planar structures. We show that the configuration space of rigid-paneled degree-4 vertices, the simplest building blocks of such systems, consists of at least two…
Origami designs and structures have been widely used in many fields, such as morphing structures, robotics, and metamaterials. However, the design and fabrication of origami structures rely on human experiences and skills, which are both…
Kirigami offers unique opportunities for guided morphing by leveraging the geometry of the cuts. This work presents inflatable kirigami crawlers created by introducing cut patterns into heat-sealable textiles to achieve locomotion upon…
Making kirigami-inspired cuts into a sheet has been shown to be an effective way of designing stretchable materials with metamorphic properties where the 2D shape can transform into complex 3D shapes. However, finding the optimal solutions…
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…
Materials designed by nature commonly exhibit functional grading and laminated structures, particularly when intended for enhanced impact protection. Synthetic materials have also found success in exploiting this concept with fully dense…
Architected materials derive their properties from the geometric arrangement of their internal structural elements. Their designs rely on continuous networks of members to control the global mechanical behavior of the bulk. Here, we…
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…
Origami-based mechanical metamaterials have recently received significant scientific interest due to their versatile and reconfigurable architectures. However, it is often challenging to account for all possible geometrical configurations…
Metamaterials can be engineered with tunable bandgaps to adapt to dynamic and complex environments, particularly for controlling elastic waves and vibration. However, achieving wide-range, seamless, reversible, in-situ and robust tunability…
Kirigami is an increasingly useful fabrication method to produce shape-programmable metamaterial structures. However, inverse design remains difficult because deployment is nonlinear, and feasible cut layouts must satisfy discrete…
Architected materials achieve unique mechanical properties through precisely engineered microstructures that minimize material usage. However, a key challenge of low-density materials is balancing high stiffness with stable deformability up…
Origami has recently received significant interest from the scientific community as a building block for constructing metamaterials. However, the primary focus has been placed on their kinematic applications, such as deployable space…
Non-rigid origami patterns could provide more versatile performance than their rigid counterparts in the design of mechanical metamaterials owing to the simultaneous deformation of facets and creases, but their complex deformation modes…
The ability to change a surface's profile allows biological systems to effectively manipulate and blend into their surroundings. Current surface morphing techniques rely either on having a small number of fixed states or on directly driving…