AI Liquid? Shades of Terminator 2

Harvard Engineers Unveil Revolutionary Programmable Metafluid. Breakthrough at Harvard SEAS Paves Way for Advanced Robotics, Adaptive Optical Devices, and Efficient Energy Dissipation Solutions

This is a screenshot from Terminator 2 and is not indicative of the actual properties of Harvard’s “intelligent liquid.”

Researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have achieved a significant breakthrough in materials science by developing a new type of fluid, termed a programmable metafluid. This “intelligent liquid” can dynamically adjust its properties—such as viscosity, optical transparency, and springiness—in response to changes in pressure. The metafluid is made from a suspension of tiny elastomer spheres, ranging from 50 to 500 microns in size, that can buckle under pressure and significantly alter the fluid's characteristics.

This groundbreaking development opens up potential applications across various fields, including robotics, where it can be used in hydraulic actuators to control robots without the need for external sensors or programming. The versatility of the metafluid was demonstrated through a hydraulic robotic gripper experiment, successfully picking up objects of diverse sizes and fragility without damaging them. Moreover, the fluid's ability to transition between Newtonian and non-Newtonian states adds another layer of functionality, offering potential for applications requiring variable viscosity.

In optics, the metafluid exhibits unique properties; it can switch from opaque to transparent by altering the shape of the encapsulated spheres under pressure, making it suitable for devices that require tunable transparency, such as smart windows or e-inks.

The research team, led by Adel Djellouli along with senior author Katia Bertoldi and others, utilized a scalable fabrication technique to produce these deformable capsules, highlighting the potential for mass production. Published in Nature on April 3, 2024, their study not only showcases the versatility of metafluids compared to traditional solid metamaterials but also hints at future explorations into their acoustic and thermodynamic properties.

Harvard's Office of Technology Development is currently exploring commercialization opportunities for this metafluid, indicating its significant impact on future technologies. The research project received support from the NSF through a grant to the Harvard University Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, emphasizing its importance in advancing materials science and engineering.