Programmable and motion-sensing materials

Scientists have developed a method to 3D print materials with tunable mechanical properties. Furthermore, these materials are capable of accurately perceiving how they move and interact with the environment.

The researchers create these sensing structures using a single material and manufacturing it in one go using a 3D printer.

To achieve this, the researchers took 3D-printed materials with a cross-linked internal structure as a starting point and incorporated networks of air-filled channels into the structure during the printing process.

By measuring pressure changes within these channels when the structure is squeezed, bent or stretched, engineers can get detailed information about all movements, even the very internal and subtle ones, of any object made from this material.

The new technology is the work of Lillian Chin’s team, from the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), attached to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, all these entities in the United States.

This technology opens the possibility of incorporating sensors in materials whose mechanical properties are programmable.

This image shows 3D-printed lattice structures with embedded air-filled channels that act as fluidic sensors. These air channels allow the measurement of the force that the reticulated structures experience when they are compressed or crushed. (Image: the research team, with retouches from MIT News)

This technique could one day be used to create flexible robots with embedded sensors that allow the robots to understand their posture and movements, allowing them to act accordingly.

Another possible application would be in the production of wearable smart devices that provide information on how a person moves or how they interact with their environment. (Font: NCYT by Amazings)