Robotics
Soft robots, actuators and morphing robotic systems.
SAXS measurements of azobenzene lipid vesicles reveal buffer-dependent photoswitching and quantitative Z->E isomerisation by X-rays
SAXS shows that azobenzene lipid membranes undergo buffer-dependent photoswitching, enabling quantitative Z→E isomerisation measurements during soft X-ray exposure.
Gait learning for soft microrobots controlled by light fields
A Bayesian optimization + Gaussian-process learning scheme enables light-controlled soft microrobots to optimize and adapt gaits with few experiments and robustness across microrobot samples.
Reprogrammable metamaterial robot with embodied versatile computation and mechanical intelligence
A reprogrammable metamaterial robot is presented as combining versatile computation with mechanical intelligence.
A auxetic metamaterial structure: analysis of shear and bending, mechanical characterization
Auxetic (negative Poisson’s ratio) re-entrant unit-cell designs integrated into bone screws improved load-bearing capacity and deformation resistance under shear and bending versus conventional screws.
Scientists discover a strange property in rice and turn it into a smart material
A rice-derived, pressure-rate-dependent effect was used to engineer a material that automatically adapts stiffness to distinguish gentle motion from sudden impacts.
Heat breaks the rules at the nanoscale and scientists used it to their advantage
Nanoscale gold metamaterials can boost heat transfer across tiny gaps by up to 4×, enabling more efficient thermal management and precision heat engineering.
Light-activated gel could impact wearables, soft robotics, and more
A light-activated, biocompatible soft gel is reported to dramatically change its conductivity, supporting ionotronics-style interfaces for wearables and soft robotics.
Multimaterial 4D printing of adaptive and reconfigurable auxetic metastructures
Multimaterial 4D printing with PLA/PCL enables auxetic metastructures whose geometry–material coupling yields tunable mechanics, energy absorption, and thermally induced reconfigurability.
Martensitic Transformation in Crystal-Amorphous Superlattices of NiTi Shape Memory Alloy
Crystal-amorphous superlattices in NiTi are simulated to shift martensitic transformation behavior, boosting reversibility and stiffness while raising transformation critical stress.
Tough self-healing elastomers by molecular enforced integration of covalent and reversible networks
By molecularly enforcing mixing of reversible hydrogen-bond networks with permanent covalent crosslinks, the authors fabricate a tough dry elastomer that self-heals at room temperature.
Mechanical analysis of composite leaf springs made by 4D printing method
4DPC composite leaf springs curl from a flat layup into a curved beam, and residual stresses at the 90° layer surface reduce tensile loading enough to improve fatigue resistance.
An Autonomous Subgram SMA-Based Swimmer
Swima is a bioinspired subgram microswimmer using onboard-powered SMA-wire actuators and computation to achieve autonomous swimming with measured speed, turning, and trajectory tracking.
DiffeoMorph: Learning to Morph 3D Shapes Using Differentiable Agent-Based Simulations
DiffeoMorph is an end-to-end differentiable method that learns agent-based morphogenesis rules to transform minimally patterned starts into target 3D shapes using an invariant Zernike-based shape-matching loss.
Recent progress in 4D printing: materials, methods and applications
This review synthesizes how 4D printing couples additive methods with stimulus-responsive materials—especially shape-memory polymers—to achieve programmed, time-dependent shape and property changes, while noting reliability and scalability
Structural and Compositional Complexities of Hierarchical Self-Assembly: a Hypergraph Approach
A hypergraph-based Blocks & Bonds formalism plus a compact Structure Code enables practical, complexity-aware description and inverse design of programmable self-assembled architectures.
Anomalous thermal and elastic properties of an epitaxial NiTi film exhibiting R-phase
Transient grating spectroscopy tracks how an epitaxial NiTi film’s shear moduli and thermal diffusivity change across an austenite–R-phase–martensite cycle, suggesting R-phase-driven thermal switching.
4D printing for crack trapping and adaptive damage-tolerant structures
A review synthesizes how 4D printing can enable crack trapping and damage-tolerant behavior through smart, metamaterial-based self-sensing and time-dependent shape change.
3D printing on pre-stressed textiles: peel test evaluation of adhesion factors in 4D textiles
A factorial study identifies printing and pre-tension parameters that maximize peel-test adhesion between 3D-printed reinforcements and pre-stressed textile substrates in 4D textiles.
On the Shape Containment Problem within the Amoebot Model with Reconfigurable Circuits
It studies how amoebot particles in programmable matter can contain a desired shape without movement, proving runtime bounds and giving efficient algorithms for specific shape classes.
Vision-assisted 4D printing of a silicone gripper with integrated sensors and high energy density actuators
A vision-guided, one-shot DIW process embeds a strain sensor and coiled SMA actuator into a silicone gripper to enable closed-loop, energy-efficient 4D morphing for real tasks.
Tile Reconfiguration by a Finite Automaton
A deterministic finite-automaton agent can reconfigure passive tiles on a triangular lattice to form specified target shapes, with worst-case optimal and polynomial-time algorithms.
3D Finite Element-Based Multiphysics Simulation of a Shape Memory Alloy Hybrid Composite Module
A coupled 3D ANSYS LS-DYNA multiphysics model for SMA hybrid composite actuators captures thermomechanical phase transformation and reproduces temperature-dependent hysteresis with experimental validation.
Additively manufactured Shape Memory Alloy Hybrid Composites with a polymer matrix featuring a re-entrant honeycomb structure
A fully additive SLA+TFP route fabricates SMA hybrid composites with a re-entrant honeycomb polymer structure, enabling geometry-tuned, thermally activated out-of-plane bending with improved reproducibility via automated SMA placement.
4D printed hydromorph biocomposites with shape change and force generation properties: progress towards structural actuation
4D-printed flax/PLA hydromorph biocomposites can be tuned to deliver water-driven shape change with blocked force and energy density comparable to wood, supporting structural actuation design.