Physics-aware differentiable design of magnetically actuated kirigami for shape morphing

TL;DR

This paper presents a physics-aware differentiable inverse design framework for magnetically actuated kirigami, enabling efficient creation of complex, controllable shape-morphing structures by integrating physics models with kinematic optimization.

Contribution

It introduces a novel differentiable inverse design method that incorporates physical interactions, allowing automatic and efficient design of magnetically actuated kirigami with complex morphing capabilities.

Findings

Automated design of complex kirigami shapes with high efficiency

Remote control of shape morphing into multiple states

Framework adaptable to various active systems

Abstract

Shape morphing that transforms morphologies in response to stimuli is crucial for future multifunctional systems. While kirigami holds great promise in enhancing shape-morphing, existing designs primarily focus on kinematics and overlook the underlying physics. This study introduces a differentiable inverse design framework that considers the physical interplay between geometry, materials, and stimuli of active kirigami, made by soft material embedded with magnetic particles, to realize target shape-morphing upon magnetic excitation. We achieve this by combining differentiable kinematics and energy models into a constrained optimization, simultaneously designing the cuts and magnetization orientations to ensure kinematic and physical feasibility. Complex kirigami designs are obtained automatically with unparallel efficiency, which can be remotely controlled to morph into intricate target shapes and even multiple states. The proposed framework can be extended to accommodate various active systems, bridging geometry and physics to push the frontiers in shape-morphing applications, like flexible electronics and minimally invasive surgery.