Active matter could be key to shape-shifting robots

The research, carried out in collaboration with Birmingham University, is described in Science Advances.

With further development, it may be possible to determine the shape, movement and behaviour of a soft solid by human-controlled activity on its surface rather than through its natural elasticity.

According to the team, the surface of an ordinary soft material always shrinks into a sphere, but active matter can be designed to work against this tendency. An example would be a rubber ball wrapped in a layer of nano-robots, where the robots are programmed to work in unison to distort the ball into a new, pre-determined shape.

It is hoped that active matter will lead to a new generation of machines whose function will come from the bottom up; instead of being governed by a central controller, these new machines would be made from individual active units that cooperate to determine the machine’s movement and function.