Stanford Seminar - Cartography to shape morphing at many length scales
May 30, 2025Tim (Tian) Chen, University of Houston
Soft robots locomote by reshaping compliant bodies. However, precision control of large, reversible 3-D deformations with minimal hardware remains difficult. We tackle this by treating morphing as a geometric problem: prescribing an in-plane “metric actuation” field—coordinated local area expansions and contractions—changes a surface’s intrinsic curvature, causing a flat surface to autonomously adopt a prescribed 3-D form. For instance, a circular elastomer disk whose center undergoes a four-fold isotropic areal stretch while its rim stays fixed reliably morphs into a hemisphere; the same curvature distortion, applied at any scale, yields identical shapes because only relative strain matters. We convert desired shapes into these metric maps and demonstrate them in two soft-robotic platforms: (i) microscale Polyimide layer patterned using semiconductor lithography that transform into free-standing doubly-curved electronics, and (ii) cm-scale silicone surfaces that are laser-cut and deploy from flat packs into load-bearing domes suitable for extraterrestrial shelters. Because the curvature “code” is embedded in the 2-D layout, actuation collapses to a single global stimulus - pressure, temperature, or gravity - dramatically simplifying control schemes and opening clear paths to soft grippers, morphing airfoils, and adaptive wearables.
About the speaker: https://www.me.uh.edu/faculty/chen-tian-tim
More about the course can be found here: https://stanfordasl.github.io/robotics_seminar/
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