A team from the University of Missouri has developed an artificial metamaterial that can respond to its surroundings, make an independent decision, and perform an action without the direction of a human.
The debut seems science fiction, so it is worth giving an example of application. Think of a drone making a delivery: with this metamaterial it could evaluate the context (including wind direction, speed or wildlife) and automatically and autonomously change course to complete the delivery safely.
How is it possible?
Guoliang Huang holds a professorship of engineering at the University of Missouri and co-author of the study published in Nature Communications. He claims that the mechanical design of this new metamaterial incorporates three main functions also found in materials found in nature: sensing, information processing and actuation, or movement.
“Basically, we're checking the way these metamaterials responds to changes in external stimuli found in the surrounding environment, ”says Huang.
For example, we can apply this metamaterial to aerospace structures. It can help control and reduce aircraft noise, such as engine vibration, and increase the aircraft's multifunctional capabilities.
Guoliang Huang, University of Missouri
Next steps for the metamaterial
The newly developed metamaterial uses a computer chip to control or manipulate the processing of information necessary to perform the required actions. It then uses electrical energy to acquire mechanical energy.
Before we find out what the team does, it's time to calmly say that it uses electrical energy to convert that energy into mechanical energy. The researchers' next step is to implement their idea in a real-world environment.
Funding? As often happens, they are of military origin. They come from the Air Force Scientific Research Office, the Army Research Office, and the National Science Foundation University Research Scholarship. A lot of backers, for a project that is proving to be very ambitious.
Source: University of Missouri
