Self-folding metamaterial

The more complex the object, the harder it is to fold up. Space satellites often need many small motors to fold up an instrument, and people have difficulty simply folding up a roadmap. Physicists from Leiden and Amsterdam have now designed a structure that folds itself up in several steps. The results from this research will be published in Nature.

The folding principle is simple but it involves several steps that need to be performed in the right order. And roadmaps are peanuts compared to the sunshields and instrument arms that satellites fold in and out. Each step requires a small motor that performs its task at the right moment.

Physicists Martin van Hecke (Leiden University/AMOLF) and Corentin Coulais (University of Amsterdam), together with their students, have now designed a structure that folds itself up in several steps when slight pressure is exerted on the sides.

Read more at Phys.org

Image Credit: Leiden Institute of Physics

-jk-