Introduction

The invention concerns a method that allows the fully automated design of mechanical actuators with mechanical metamaterials. Thanks to the innovative methodology, it is possible to design automatically the most suitable mechanic actuator for each stimulus and for achieving the desired mechanical action. The system versatility allows the increase in efficiency and the reduction of costs due to the industrial scalability of the process.

Technical features

Mechanical metamaterials are a new class of man-made materials consisting of multiple elementary cells that, working together, lead to obtain the desired controlled movement. Thanks to their exceptional properties, they have also been used to design mechanical actuators. Conventional design strategies for metamaterial structures are based on manual operations and this greatly affects efficiency and costs. The innovative system consists in an automated methodology that involves the use of an algorithm that allows the metamaterial structure modification and computational simulators that verify the response to the stimulus. The process is then iterated until the best configuration to achieve the ideal response is found. The developed method therefore allows to supply low-cost mechanical actuators, of considerable versatility and with accurate and optimized mechanical responses for a specific purpose.

Possible Applications

• Robotics
• Manufacturing
• Prosthetics
• 3D printing

Advantages

• Automated design
• Selection of the best response to the stimulus received
• Increased performance and efficiency
• Cost reduction