Single-Piece Mechanisms Created Using an Advanced Metamaterial

A team of researchers at Germany’s Hasso Plattner Institute have created a series of single-piece mechanisms created using an advanced metamaterial. The material can be designed with rigid or flexible cells that control how the material moves when acted on. The team created a door latch, a pair of pliers, a pantograph, and a Jansen walker using the material to demonstrate some of its capabilities.

So far, metamaterials were understood as materials—we want to think of them as machines.

Glen Tickle
Glen Tickle

Amelia's dad. Steph's husband. Writer, comedian, gentleman. Good at juggling, bad at chess.