Dynamic drives allow independent control of material bits for targeted memory

Science Advances, vol. 12, pp. eaec1606

Abstract

Mechanical metamaterials with bistable elements can store vast amounts of information, but writing these memories requires impractical local control or lengthy multicycle protocols. We overcome this limitation with a dynamic control strategy that accesses any configuration in a single global drive cycle by leveraging the system's sensitivity to the drive and its time derivatives. We realize this strategy with bistable beams on a rotating platform, where drive cycles become orbits in a control space of angular velocity and acceleration. State changes occur when these orbits cross switching thresholds, which we rationally design so that each state can be accessed by a single drive orbit. We construct a five-bit system and demonstrate its full addressability by selecting drive orbits that write all 26 uppercase letters of the alphabet in ASCII representation. This dynamic control paradigm offers a general route toward smart, remotely operated devices across various physical domains.

Authors 4

1. Eduardo Gutierrez-Prieto

   École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

   Affiliation as printed

   Flexible Structures Laboratory, Institute of Mechanical Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland

2. Colin M. Meulblok Aachen Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Lab

   Leiden University · Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics

   Affiliation as printed

   AMOLF, Amsterdam, Netherlands

   Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Lab, Universiteit Leiden, Leiden, Netherlands

3. Martin van Hecke

   École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne · Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics

   Affiliation as printed

   AMOLF, Amsterdam, Netherlands

   Flexible Structures Laboratory, Institute of Mechanical Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland

4. Pedro M. Reis

   École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

   Affiliation as printed

   Flexible Structures Laboratory, Institute of Mechanical Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland