May 21, 2025 – A research team at Princeton University, led by Prof. Glaucio H. Paulino, has drawn inspiration from ancient origami art to develop an innovative structure called “metabot”—a supermaterial robot featuring unique “chiral” unit cells that can be remotely controlled via electromagnetic field commands to perform complex movements like twisting and contracting.
According to insights from the Color Masterbatch Industry Network, the team utilized chiral metamaterial unit modules with single-degree-of-freedom driving technology to convert linear motion into rotational motion. This innovative design enables the component to twist within a 0° to 90° range, achieve a 25% in-plane shrinkage rate, and exceed 50% vertical contraction. By demonstrating two driving modes—linear displacement and torsional-driven rotational compression—the researchers validated the programmability and scalability of metamaterials, paving the way for multi-mode, multi-stable, and programmable deformable robots. The findings were recently published in Nature.
Unlike ordinary elastic materials with single deformation modes, the newly designed negative Poisson’s ratio structure can simultaneously twist and contract under different driving conditions. This unique multi-modal deformation mechanism stems from the special arrangement of cylindrical arrays composed of modular chiral units, which twist at identical angles while maintaining uniform height and rotational alignment during deformation. The design of these structural units explicitly references origami principles.
Origami, the ancient art of folding 2D materials into complex 3D structures, inspired the team to design flexible, foldable metamaterials based on the “Kresling origami pattern”—a helical folding model. Through specific configurations that allow each unit to rotate only clockwise or counterclockwise, the team achieved highly controlled deformation behavior, offering new possibilities for building future material systems with rich response characteristics.
Experimental validation demonstrated two distinct driving effects: in rotational mode, the metamaterial twists and contracts according to the driver’s rotation direction; in linear compression mode, it undergoes axial shrinkage and dramatic torsion as compression increases. The team also proposed a reconfigurable modular assembly strategy, connecting chiral units with opposite handedness to form modular dipoles, which can be further assembled into 3D metamaterial structures. This approach enables multi-stable properties and adjustable mechanical responses.
In exploring application scenarios, the team showed that integrating magnetic dipole units allows remote wireless control, while incorporating light-absorbing materials on the surface enables dual-mode switching between thermal radiation capture and dissipation. Additionally, the researchers demonstrated the potential to simulate logic gate functions in computers, opening new avenues for encrypted information applications.
In a Nature commentary, Philip Klocke and Larry L. Howell of Brigham Young University noted, “Origami not only inspires art but also science, providing a framework for developing materials with novel properties.” They emphasized that scaling remains a key challenge for metamaterial applications. Prof. Glaucio Paulino stated, “This research shows that torque can be transmitted remotely, instantaneously, and precisely to trigger complex robotic motions.” Prof. Xuanhe Zhao of MIT praised the work, calling it “a groundbreaking pathway for origami design and its applications.”