Activities & Results

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Activities, awards, and other outputs

To be announced

Results

We aim to build robotic matter consisting of thousands or millions of microscale components, so-called “synthetic cells”, that form objects that can autonomously change their shape and material properties.

Realising this objective requires combining four sub-objectives:

1. Synthesis of the synthetic cells
2. Thermoreversible bonding of the synthetic cells
3. Magnetic orientation of synthetic cells with anisotropic properties to program the overall material properties emerging from the resulting cell conglomerate
4. Transporting synthetic cell material throughout the object to program the overall material shape

Project results

WP1 Synthesis and thermoreversible bonding results:
Investigating the thermoreversible bonding of microparticles.

WP2 Magnetic material programming results:
Investigating integration of small magnets in every cell, and the material property programming by magnetically rotating the anisotropic cells prior to fixation.

WP3 Shape programming results:
Introducing shape programming of solid objects based on the local fluidisation of the object, followed by transport of the fluidised substance through the object by an internal pumping mechanism.