Magnetically Controlled Kirigami Surfaces Move Objects: No Grasping Needed.
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10 Dec, 2024
2 min read
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Image via North Carolina State University
Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a new device that leverages magnetic fields and kirigami design principles to remotely control the flexible dimpled surface. This allows lifting and moving objects on the surface without actually grasping them.
This technology could find its way into confined spaces or navigate fragile objects, gels, or liquids where machines and tools are not an option. It did this through shape-shifting materials.
“We were trying to address two challenges here. The first challenge was how to move objects that you can’t pick up with grippers – such as fragile objects or things in confined spaces. The second challenge was how to use a magnetic field to remotely lift and move objects that are not magnetic,” says the co-author Jie Yin.
Shape-shifting materials are an intriguing field in engineering. They allow modification of both properties and functionalities of materials for broad applications. These materials are quite useful in adaptive structures, medical devices, wearable electronics, and soft robotics.
However, once their shape is morphed, they struggle to reprogram and dynamically alter the shape without altering the prescribed cuts and swellings. To overcome this limitation in soft shape-morphing materials, researchers report shape-shifting Kirigami dome “metasheet”.
This metasheet consists of an elastic polymer, embedded with magnetic microparticles. Then, a pattern was cut into the sheet, and the outer edges were attached to a rigid frame. Hovering the magnetic field under the metasheet allows a section to bulge upward or sink downward.
The direction of the magnetic field can control the surface of the metal sheet. Therefore, any objects on the surface move along with the deformation.
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“You can actually cause the surface of the metasheet to move like a wave by controlling the direction of the magnetic field. And adjusting the strength of the magnetic field determines how much the wave rises or falls,” Yin says.
“Controlling the surface movement of the metasheet makes it possible to move many types of objects resting on the surface – whether they’re drops of liquid or a flat piece of glass,” says Joe Tracy.
The design cuts on the sheets are an example of Kirigami, a method of paper cutting to form three-dimensional designs. Kirigami enhances the flexibility of the material without sacrificing its stiffness. Therefore, the material can be deformed without losing its mechanical strength.
“There’s been rather little work done on how magnetic actuation can be used in conjunction with kirigami, and what we’ve done here suggests that there’s a tremendous amount of potential for combining these approaches in fields from soft robotics to manufacturing applications,” says Tracy.
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Journal Reference
- Yinding Chi et al., Magnetic kirigami dome metasheet with high deformability and stiffness for adaptive dynamic shape-shifting and multimodal manipulation. Science Advances. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adr8421
- TOPICS
- Materials
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