Discrete mechanical metamaterials

Digital fabrication enables complex designs to be realized with improved speed, precision, and cost compared to manual techniques. Additive manufacturing, for example, is one of the leading methods for rapid prototyping and near net shape part production. Extension to full scale structures and systems, however, remains a challenge, as cost, speed and performance present orthogonal objectives that are inherently coupled to limited material options, stochastic process errors, and machine-based constraints. To address these issues, this thesis introduces new materials that physically embody attributes of digital systems, scalable methods for automating their assembly, and a portfolio of use cases with novel, full-scale structural and robotic platforms. First, I build on the topic of discrete materials, which showed a finite set of modular parts can be incrementally and reversibly assembled into larger functional structures.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctoral

Department dc:contributor.department

Program in Media Arts and Sciences (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2020

Author dc:creator

• Jenett, Benjamin(Benjamin Eric)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Neil Gershenfeld.

• Program in Media Arts and Sciences

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses may be protected by copyright. Please reuse MIT thesis content according to the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy, which is available through the URL provided.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/130610

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/130610