Design and printing of proprioceptive three-dimensional architected robotic metamaterials

Abstract

Advances in additive manufacturing techniques have enabled the creation of stimuli-responsive materials with designed three-dimensional (3D) architectures. Unlike biological systems in which functions such as sensing, actuation, and control are closely integrated, few architected materials have comparable system complexity. We report a design and manufacturing route to create a class of robotic metamaterials capable of motion with multiple degrees of freedom, amplification of strain in a prescribed direction in response to an electric field (and vice versa), and thus, programmed motions with self-sensing and feedback control. These robotic metamaterials consist of networks of piezoelectric, conductive, and structural elements interwoven into a designed 3D lattice. The resulting architected materials function as proprioceptive microrobots that actively sense and move.

A wave-confining metasphere beamforming acoustic sensor for superior human-machine voice interaction

“…For future designs, we could combine adaptive stimuli-responsive materials (42,43) as the local resonators in metamaterials to actively tune the bandgap according to needs. Furthermore, by choosing appropriate materials, it is possible for MBAS to shrink in size with similar performance, extending the application fields to small-scale robotics and health monitoring (44)(45)(46).…”

Multicomponent and multifunctional integrated miniature soft robots

“…7(e)). 157 The responsiveness of piezoelectric materials enables robotic superstructures to achieve different locomotion modes (walking, jumping, steering) and an active sensing capability ( e.g. , obstacle avoidance).…”

“…Reproduced with permission. 157 Copyright 2022, American Association for the Advancement of Science.…”

“…(e) The robotic metamaterial structure is prepared based on DLP multi-material printing technology, which has a structural phase, conductive phase, and piezo-active phase at the same time. Reproduced with permission 157. Copyright 2022, American Association for the Advancement of Science.…”

Vibrations and waves in soft dielectric elastomer structures

“…The reports on experimental fabrications of soft DE PCs and metamaterials, especially with active or smart control capability, are still limited, which restricts the real applications of the DE PC-based devices. The potential solution to the high-precision shaping and patterning of PCs and metamaterials is the novel 3D printing techniques[160][161][162]. Therefore, developing fast and high-precision fabrication techniques for DE PCs and metamaterials is a key and challenging issue in the future.…”