{"id":1468,"date":"2022-01-15T23:16:33","date_gmt":"2022-01-15T22:16:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iop.fnwi.uva.nl\/scm\/wordpress_test\/?p=1468"},"modified":"2026-10-12T21:57:35","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T20:57:35","slug":"active-robotic-metamaterials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iop.fnwi.uva.nl\/scm\/index.php\/2022\/01\/15\/active-robotic-metamaterials\/","title":{"rendered":"Active robotic metamaterials"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"1468\" class=\"elementor elementor-1468\" data-elementor-settings=\"[]\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-section-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-387b5951 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"387b5951\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-74f27ed8\" data-id=\"74f27ed8\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-20d69f5d elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"20d69f5d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.5.5 - 03-02-2022 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#818a91;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#818a91;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t\n<div style=\"font-size:17px; line-height:1.75; color:#43545A; font-weight:400;\">\n\n  <!-- OPENING -->\n  <p style=\"margin:0 0 18px;\">\n    From molecular motors to living tissues, nature is full of\n    <span style=\"color:#10708A; font-weight:600;\">active matter<\/span>:\n    systems that continuously consume energy to move, reorganise and respond to their surroundings.\n    But what if we could engineer materials with similar capabilities?\n  <\/p>\n\n  <p style=\"margin:0 0 26px;\">\n    We investigate how mechanical metamaterials built from active, interacting units can develop collective behaviours such as locomotion, vibration control and adaptive responses.\n    Our goal is to bridge the gap between <strong>passive materials and autonomous robots<\/strong>.\n  <\/p>\n\n  <!-- FEATURED RESEARCH STATEMENT -->\n  <div style=\"border-left:4px solid #10708A; padding:8px 0 8px 22px; margin:28px 0 32px;\">\n\n    <div style=\"font-size:12px; font-weight:700; letter-spacing:1.2px; color:#10708A; margin-bottom:9px;\">\n      MATERIALS THAT COME ALIVE\n    <\/div>\n\n    <div style=\"font-size:22px; line-height:1.45; font-weight:600; color:#263F47;\">\n      When individual building blocks become active, the entire material can move and adapt.\n    <\/div>\n\n  <\/div>\n\n  <!-- ANIMATED DEMONSTRATION -->\n  <div style=\"max-width:580px; margin:0 auto 32px; text-align:center;\">\n\n    <img\n      src=\"https:\/\/iop.fnwi.uva.nl\/scm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pancakegif.gif\"\n      alt=\"Animated demonstration of an active robotic metamaterial\"\n      loading=\"lazy\"\n      style=\"display:block; width:100%; max-width:580px; height:auto; max-height:360px; object-fit:contain; margin:0 auto; border-radius:9px;\">\n\n    <div style=\"font-size:13px; color:#6B7C85; margin-top:10px;\">\n      Active robotic matter in motion\n    <\/div>\n\n  <\/div>\n\n  <!-- RESEARCH EXPLANATION -->\n  <h3 style=\"font-size:22px; color:#10708A; font-weight:600; margin:30px 0 14px;\">\n    Engineering collective behaviour\n  <\/h3>\n\n  <p style=\"margin:0 0 18px;\">\n    We use distributed robotic units equipped with sensors and actuators to study how local interactions produce large-scale motion.\n    Combining experiments with continuum mechanics and non-Hermitian physics, we explore phenomena such as\n    <strong>directional wave amplification, solitons and spontaneous pattern formation<\/strong>.\n  <\/p>\n\n  <p style=\"margin:0 0 25px;\">\n    By tuning these interactions, we aim to create resilient materials that respond to complex and unpredictable environments without relying on centralised control.\n  <\/p>\n\n  <!-- VIDEO -->\n  <div style=\"max-width:650px; margin:0 auto 34px;\">\n\n    <div style=\"background:#F3F7F8; border:1px solid #E1E8EA; border-radius:10px; padding:12px;\">\n      <video controls playsinline preload=\"metadata\"\n        style=\"display:block; width:100%; height:auto; max-height:390px; border-radius:6px; background:#EDF2F4;\">\n        <source src=\"https:\/\/iop.fnwi.uva.nl\/scm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/activewall.mp4\" type=\"video\/mp4\">\n        Your browser does not support HTML5 video.\n      <\/video>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <div style=\"font-size:13px; color:#6B7C85; text-align:center; margin-top:9px;\">\n      Experimental demonstration of active robotic metamaterials\n    <\/div>\n\n  <\/div>\n\n  <!-- FEATURED PUBLICATION -->\n  <h3 style=\"font-size:22px; color:#10708A; font-weight:600; margin:34px 0 13px;\">\n    Research highlight: materials that move\n  <\/h3>\n\n  <p style=\"margin:0 0 17px;\">\n    In recent research, we developed active solids capable of rolling and crawling across different terrains.\n    Their movement emerges from interactions between the material&#8217;s internal mechanics and its environment, demonstrating how locomotion can arise from distributed mechanical feedback.\n  <\/p>\n\n  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41586-025-08646-3\"\n     target=\"_blank\"\n     rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\n     style=\"display:block; text-decoration:none; background:#F3F7F8; border:1px solid #E1E8EA; border-left:4px solid #10708A; border-radius:9px; padding:22px 24px; margin-bottom:34px;\">\n\n    <span style=\"display:block; font-size:12px; font-weight:700; color:#10708A; letter-spacing:1px; margin-bottom:9px;\">\n      FEATURED PUBLICATION \u00b7 NATURE 2025\n    <\/span>\n\n    <span style=\"display:block; font-size:19px; font-weight:600; color:#263F47; line-height:1.45; margin-bottom:10px;\">\n      Adaptive locomotion of active solids\n    <\/span>\n\n    <span style=\"display:block; font-size:14px; line-height:1.65; color:#6B7C85;\">\n      Jonas Veenstra, Colin Scheibner, Martin Brandenbourger,\n      Jack Binysh, Anton Souslov, Vincenzo Vitelli &amp; Corentin Coulais\n    <\/span>\n\n    <span style=\"display:block; font-size:13px; font-weight:600; color:#10708A; margin-top:14px;\">\n      Explore the publication &#8599;\n    <\/span>\n\n  <\/a>\n\n  <!-- RESEARCH TEAM -->\n  <div style=\"border-top:1px solid #E1E8EA; padding-top:22px;\">\n\n    <div style=\"font-size:12px; color:#10708A; font-weight:700; letter-spacing:1.2px; margin-bottom:14px;\">\n      PEOPLE BEHIND THE RESEARCH\n    <\/div>\n\n    <p style=\"font-size:15px; line-height:1.7; margin:0 0 8px;\">\n      <strong style=\"color:#263F47;\">Supervisor:<\/strong>\n      Corentin Coulais\n    <\/p>\n\n    <p style=\"font-size:15px; line-height:1.7; margin:0 0 12px;\">\n      <strong style=\"color:#263F47;\">Research team:<\/strong>\n      Jonas Veenstra\n    <\/p>\n\n    <p style=\"font-size:14px; margin:0;\">\n      Interested in this research?\n      <a href=\"mailto:C.J.M.Coulais@uva.nl\"\n         style=\"color:#10708A; font-weight:600; text-decoration:none;\">\n        Contact Corentin Coulais &#8599;\n      <\/a>\n    <\/p>\n\n  <\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Understanding the emergent dynamics in active solids using  robotic systems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13,18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iop.fnwi.uva.nl\/scm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1468"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iop.fnwi.uva.nl\/scm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iop.fnwi.uva.nl\/scm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iop.fnwi.uva.nl\/scm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iop.fnwi.uva.nl\/scm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1468"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/iop.fnwi.uva.nl\/scm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1468\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4022,"href":"https:\/\/iop.fnwi.uva.nl\/scm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1468\/revisions\/4022"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iop.fnwi.uva.nl\/scm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iop.fnwi.uva.nl\/scm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iop.fnwi.uva.nl\/scm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iop.fnwi.uva.nl\/scm\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}