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arXiv · 1906.00386

Oscillating membranes: modeling and controlling autonomous shape-transforming sheets

Ido Levin·Robert Deegan·Eran Sharon
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Abstract

Living organisms have mastered the dynamic control of internal stresses to perform an array of functions, such as change shape and locomote. State-of-the-art attempts to replicate this ability in synthetic materials are rudimentary in comparison. Here we present the first experimental realization of a self-oscillating gel in a thin sheet configuration. We show that internal signaling produces stresses that drive lifelike shape changes, that the material's response is accurately modelled with the theory of non-Euclidean elasticity and that the internal signaling can be programmed with light. Together, our results demonstrate a complete route for developing fully autonomous soft machines.

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Ido Levin, Robert Deegan, Eran Sharon. 2019-06-02. Oscillating membranes: modeling and controlling autonomous shape-transforming sheets. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.125.178001

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