My favorite example is an old thermostat, one that’s not digital. What are some examples of “smart” materials that already exist?
4D PRINTING GUNS CODE
If we can write code to operate a machine, why can’t we also use code to get things to assemble themselves? Part of my work had been writing code to digitally design things. I wasn’t necessarily looking to invent new materials, but rather to combine existing materials in smart ways.
I was making these experimental structures and installations and showing them at galleries around the world, and that led me to think more about the materials involved. How did you become interested in self-assembling materials? Your background is in architecture, design computation and computer science. Scientific American spoke with Tibbits about his efforts to take 3-D printing into new dimensions. Tibbits, however, envisions a scenario in which the materials themselves contain the information needed for self-assembly, saving manufacturers time and money. Improvements in software, computers and assembly processes have enabled more complex designs and greater automation when translating designs into actual things. This new wrinkle in the maker movement comes courtesy of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Self-Assembly Lab, where director Skylar Tibbits and his team are experimenting with so-called “programmable materials.” The researchers print these substances using a 3-D printer and then watch as the fourth dimension-time-takes over and the materials change shape or automatically reassemble in new patterns.
Instead of building static three-dimensional items from layers of plastics or metals, 4-D printing employs dynamic materials that continue to evolve in response to their environment. Such is the thinking behind “4-D printing,” an experimental approach to manufacturing that expands on much-hyped 3-D printing processes. The biggest breakthroughs in how we make things lie not in the technology to manipulate materials but in the materials themselves.
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