The objective of this Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program award is to enable design for integrity in Shape-Shifting Surfaces (SSSs), i.e., surfaces which retain their effectiveness as a physical barrier while undergoing changes in shape. These shape changes could be motions (e.g., expanding, shrinking, twisting, encircling, wiggling, swallowing or constricting), which would make the surface more effective at performing its function. The SSSs are a new invention, and are composed of tiled arrays of polygonal cells, each cell consisting of flexures attached to overlapping thin plates or shells. The research will develop techniques for using these surfaces to achieve a specified shape shift, for mechanized motion of the surface, and for sensing the loads that are applied to the surface.
This research will enable engineers to create more dynamic, responsive surfaces. In the short term, demonstration of this technology will be achieved in recreational and commercial applications, such as a foldable kayak, a weight-measuring floor, and an SSS-based robot. In the long term, devices with biomedical or military significance, such as artificial heart muscles and flexible body armor, will be pursued. Teaching innovation will be achieved through projects that reach under-graduate and graduate engineers and through thought-provoking educational and recreational products that target both K-6 students specifically, and a wider audience in the general public.
