CAREER: Design for Integrity in Shape-Shifting Surfaces

这个教师早期职业发展（CAREER）计划奖的目的是使形状变化表面（SSS）的完整性设计，即，在形状发生变化的同时保持其作为物理屏障的有效性的表面。这些形状变化可以是运动（例如，膨胀、收缩、扭曲、环绕、摆动、吞咽或收缩），这将使表面更有效地执行其功能。SSS是一项新发明，由多边形单元的平铺阵列组成，每个单元由连接到重叠薄板或壳的弯曲部分组成。该研究将开发使用这些表面实现特定形状变化的技术，用于表面的机械化运动，以及用于感测施加在表面上的负载。该研究将使工程师能够创建更具动态性的响应表面。在短期内，这项技术的示范将在娱乐和商业应用中实现，例如可折叠的皮艇，重量测量地板和基于SSS的机器人。从长远来看，具有生物医学或军事意义的设备，如人造心脏肌肉和柔性防弹衣，将受到追捧。教学创新将通过接触本科生和研究生工程师的项目以及针对K-6学生和广大公众的发人深省的教育和娱乐产品来实现。

The objective of this Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program award is to enable design for integrity in Shape-Shifting Surfaces (SSSs), i.e., surfaces which retain their effectiveness as a physical barrier while undergoing changes in shape. These shape changes could be motions (e.g., expanding, shrinking, twisting, encircling, wiggling, swallowing or constricting), which would make the surface more effective at performing its function. The SSSs are a new invention, and are composed of tiled arrays of polygonal cells, each cell consisting of flexures attached to overlapping thin plates or shells. The research will develop techniques for using these surfaces to achieve a specified shape shift, for mechanized motion of the surface, and for sensing the loads that are applied to the surface.This research will enable engineers to create more dynamic, responsive surfaces. In the short term, demonstration of this technology will be achieved in recreational and commercial applications, such as a foldable kayak, a weight-measuring floor, and an SSS-based robot. In the long term, devices with biomedical or military significance, such as artificial heart muscles and flexible body armor, will be pursued. Teaching innovation will be achieved through projects that reach under-graduate and graduate engineers and through thought-provoking educational and recreational products that target both K-6 students specifically, and a wider audience in the general public.