Multistable inflatable origami structures at the metre scale.

From stadium covers to solar sails, we rely on deployability for the design of large-scale structures that can quickly compress to a fraction of their size. Historically, two main strategies have been used to design deployable systems. The first and most frequently used approach involves mechanisms comprising interconnected bar elements, which can synchronously expand and retract, occasionally locking in place through bistable elements.

Particle robotics based on statistical mechanics of loosely coupled components.

Biological organisms achieve robust high-level behaviours by combining and coordinating stochastic low-level components. By contrast, most current robotic systems comprise either monolithic mechanisms or modular units with coordinated motions. Such robots require explicit control of individual components to perform specific functions, and the failure of one component typically renders the entire robot inoperable.

Rotary-actuated folding polyhedrons for midwater investigation of delicate marine organisms.

Self-folding polyhedra have emerged as a viable design strategy for a wide range of applications, with advances largely made through modeling and experimentation at the micro- and millimeter scale. Translating these concepts to larger scales for practical purposes is an obvious next step; however, the size, weight, and method of actuation present a new set of problems to overcome. We have developed large-scale folding polyhedra to rapidly and noninvasively enclose marine organisms in the water column.

Rational design of reconfigurable prismatic architected materials.

Advances in fabrication technologies are enabling the production of architected materials with unprecedented properties. Most such materials are characterized by a fixed geometry, but in the design of some materials it is possible to incorporate internal mechanisms capable of reconfiguring their spatial architecture, and in this way to enable tunable functionality. Inspired by the structural diversity and foldability of the prismatic geometries that can be constructed using the snapology origami technique, here we introduce a robust design strategy based on space-filling tessellations of polyhedra to create three-dimensional reconfigurable materials comprising a periodic assembly of rigid plates and elastic hinges.

A three-dimensional actuated origami-inspired transformable metamaterial with multiple degrees of freedom.

Reconfigurable devices, whose shape can be drastically altered, are central to expandable shelters, deployable space structures, reversible encapsulation systems and medical tools and robots. All these applications require structures whose shape can be actively controlled, both for deployment and to conform to the surrounding environment. While most current reconfigurable designs are application specific, here we present a mechanical metamaterial with tunable shape, volume and stiffness.