Programmable Carbon Fiber and Textiles

Programmable Materials – step into the future!

These new materials include: self-transforming carbon fiber, printed wood grain, custom textile composites and other rubbers/plastics, which offer unprecedented capabilities including programmable actuation, sensing and self-transformation, from a simple material.

Nearly every industry has long desired smarter materials and robotic-like transformation from apparel, architecture, product design and manufacturing to aerospace and automotive industries. However, these capabilities have often required expensive, error-prone and complex electromechanical devices (motors, sensors, electronics), bulky components, power consumption (batteries or electricity) and difficult assembly processes. These constraints have made it difficult to efficiently produce dynamic systems, higher-performing machines and more adaptive products, until now. Our goal is true material robotics or robots without robots.

A number of recent technologies have been brought together to enable a breakthrough in material performance. These technologies include: multi-material 3D/4D printing, advances in materials science and new capabilities in simulation/optimization software. These capabilities have now made it possible to fully program a wide range of materials to change shape, appearance or other property, on demand.

Programmable Carbon Fiber

Carbon fiber is traditionally characterized by high stiffness, tensile strength, and low weight, making it advantageous for many industrial applications. We have programmed carbon fiber to transform autonomously by printing active material on fully cured flexible carbon fiber and applying heat as an activator. The Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) Morphing Supercar Wing and the Airbus Engine Flap demonstrate industry-specific applications of programmable material technology. In each, a single piece of programmable carbon fiber transforms its shape to create aerodynamic advantage and tunable performance. Contrary to traditional mechanical activation, this method requires no complex electronics, sensors, or actuators; it decreases the total weight and minimizes failure-prone mechanisms.

Programmable Textiles

The translucent, lightweight, and malleable properties of textiles have been utilized for centuries in architecture, furniture, and apparel design. Typically, stretching fabric onto rigid structural frames requires complex molding and mechanical methods. Our research demonstrates a new method for utilizing textiles that can take advantage of its unique properties while reducing the complexity of forming processes. By printing material in varied layer thicknesses onto stretched textiles we are able to create self-transforming structures that reconfigure into pre-programmed shapes. Programmable textiles open up new possibilities for furniture, product manufacturing, and shipping as well as new methods for self-assembly and user interaction.