MIT Engineers Develop System for Shape-Changing Smart Devices with Electrical Modularity

Researchers at MIT have developed a new system of 3D-printed mechanical metamaterial building blocks, dubbed "bifur-circuits," that can be combined to form reconfigurable smart devices. These interactive components maintain electrical connections regardless of their shape, enabling devices to sense their configuration without external wires. Potential applications include reconfigurable robotic grippers and customized assistive devices. The research will be presented at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology.