Coloring outside the lines
Mathias Kolle’s color-changing materials take inspiration from butterflies and mollusks.
The chore of packing just got faster and easier
A new computational method facilitates the dense placement of objects inside a rigid container.
How to untangle a worm ball: Mathematicians solve a knotty mystery
California blackworms tangle themselves up by the thousands, then separate in a split second. Their trick may inspire the design of self-detangling materials and fibers.
Engineers devise a modular system to produce efficient, scalable aquabots
The system’s simple repeating elements can assemble into swimming forms ranging from eel-like to wing-shaped.
An automated way to assemble thousands of objects
A new algorithm for automatic assembly of products is accurate, efficient, and generalizable to a wide range of complex real-world assemblies.
Flocks of assembler robots show potential for making larger structures
Researchers make progress toward groups of robots that could build almost anything, including buildings, vehicles, and even bigger robots.
Reprogrammable materials selectively self-assemble
Researchers create a method for magnetically programming materials to make cubes that are very picky about what they connect with, enabling more-scalable self-assembly.
Fabric + form = a mask that uniquely fits your face
Department of Architecture doctoral candidate Lavender Tessmer has advanced the process to produce textiles that can be individually customized.
Starfish embryos swim in formation like a “living crystal”
Their swirling, clustering behavior might someday inform the design of self-assembling robotic swarms.
3 Questions: Ariel Ekblaw on building beautiful architecture in space
The TESSERAE project, a design for self-assembling space structures and habitats, has sent prototypes to the International Space Station.
Researchers construct molecular nanofibers that are stronger than steel
Self-assembly of Kevlar-inspired molecules leads to structures with robust properties, offering new materials for solid-state applications.
Versatile building blocks make structures with surprising mechanical properties
The subunits could be robotically assembled to produce large, complex objects, including cars, robots, or wind turbine blades.
3 Questions: Harnessing wave power to rebuild islands
In the Maldives, an MIT team is conducting experiments to combat sea-level rise by redirecting natural sand movement.
Transformation by design
Skylar Tibbits makes materials that water, heat, or mechanical forces can alter into new shapes.
Assembler robots make large structures from little pieces
Systems of tiny robots may someday build high-performance structures, from airplanes to space settlements.