Programmable and Reconfigurable Mechanical Metamaterials for Robotics and Adaptive Structures

Mechanical metamaterials are evolving from passive architectures with fixed properties into programmable and reconfigurable systems capable of changing their effective stiffness, shape, and energy dissipation characteristics. By tailoring geometry, topology, constituent materials, and nonlinear deformation mechanisms, these systems can encode prescribed mechanical responses and enable transitions between functional states. Biological systems provide valuable inspiration for combining structural support with adaptable motion through hierarchical organization, graded compliance, and coordinated deformation. The integration of these design principles with responsive materials, multi-material additive manufacturing, and 4D printing creates opportunities to incorporate actuation and sensing into architected structures. Such advances offer a promising foundation for soft and hybrid robotics, morphing systems, deployable structures, and adaptive protective equipment.Despite this progress, translating programmable mechanical metamaterials into reliable engineering systems remains challenging. A central issue is reconciling load-bearing capacity with rapid, large-amplitude, and reversible reconfiguration while maintaining performance over repeated operating cycles. Depending on the architecture and actuation mechanism, limitations include fatigue, hysteresis, actuation energy requirements, response time, and dependence on external hardware. Moving from individual unit cells to functional assemblies also requires addressing collective deformation, boundary constraints, manufacturing imperfections, and environmental effects. This Research Topic aims to connect structural design and nonlinear mechanics with robotic and adaptive functions, emphasizing reconfiguration under load, integrated actuation and sensing, and system reliability. It encompasses mechanical responses programmed through design and fabrication, with particular interest in architectures that can be reversibly reconfigured or reprogrammed after fabrication. Bioinspired approaches are especially encouraged, alongside other strategies that advance these objectives. We welcome theoretical, computational, and experimental contributions, as well as critical reviews, particularly those that clarify trade-offs among load capacity, reconfiguration amplitude, switching speed, energy consumption, and cyclic durability.Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:• Programmable Architectures and Bioinspired Design: Multistable, origami/kirigami, chiral, auxetic, and modular mechanical metamaterials; bioinspired hierarchical organization and graded compliance; nonlinear mechanisms enabling reversible changes in stiffness, shape, Poisson’s ratio, and energy dissipation.• Computational Mechanics and Inverse Design: Nonlinear and multiscale modeling, multi-objective topology optimization, machine-learning-driven inverse design, programming of stable states and transition pathways, and robust design accounting for manufacturing variability and operating conditions.• Responsive Materials, Fabrication, and Actuation: Responsive polymers and composites, 4D printing, multi-material additive manufacturing, scalable fabrication, and integration of mechanical, pneumatic, magnetic, electrical, or thermal actuation into architected structures.• Sensing, Control, and Robotic Applications: Physical intelligence, embedded sensing, feedback-controlled reconfiguration, mechanical information processing, and coordinated actuation; metamaterial-enabled gripping, locomotion, manipulation, and shape adaptation in soft and hybrid robots.• Adaptive Structures and System Reliability: Reconfiguration under load, deployable and morphing structures, tunable vibration isolation and impact mitigation, collective behavior in functional assemblies, damage tolerance, and durability under cyclic operation and relevant environmental conditions. Topic editors: Yifan Lu, JIANING WU, Fei Pan, Shuai Fu Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/87325/programmable-and-reconfigurable-mechanical-metamaterials-for-robotics-and-adaptive-structures