Researchers created a kirigami-inspired mechanical computer using interconnected polymer cubes, capable of storing and manipulating data in multiple stable states, offering a foundation for advanced mechanical computing and encryption without electronic components. Credit: SciTechDaily.com
This system allows for multiple stable states, enhancing binary computing to potentially include additional data states. The design, leveraging the principles of kirigami, enables complex data storage and computation structures with practical applications in mechanical encryption and haptic systems.have developed a kirigami-inspired mechanical computer that uses a complex structure of rigid, interconnected polymer cubes to store, retrieve, and erase data without relying on electronic components.
“Second, this proof-of-concept work focused on binary computing functions with a cube being either pushed up or pushed down – it’s either a 1 or a 0. But we think there is potential here for more complex computing, with data being conveyed by how high a given cube has been pushed up. We’ve shown within this proof-of-concept system that cubes can have five or more different states. Theoretically, that means a given cube can convey not only a 1 or a 0, but also a 2, 3 or 4.
The cubes are connected by thin strips of elastic tape. To edit data, you have to change the configuration of functional units. That requires users to pull on the edges of the metastructure, which stretches the elastic tape and allows you to push cubes up or down. When you release the metastructure, the tape contracts, locking the cubes – and the data – in place.