Autonomous Shaping and Structuring using Acoustic Field

Spontaneous construction of ordered structures is a grand goal of materials handling. Conventionally, ordered structures are produced either in serial or in bulk, by e.g. human hand, molding, processing machines, robots, 3D printing, etc. In contrast, the emergence of shapes and ordered structures in nature is often spontaneous, either by internal forces or external excitation. Recently, we saw several exciting examples of creating shapes and structure by exploiting different energy fields. However, the programmability and flexibility of the current methods using energy fields are rather limited for shaping and structuring. In this project, we aim to develop an autonomous shaping and structuring method using acoustic fields and intelligent control algorithms. The project will be a solid step towards the grand goal of spontaneous construction of ordered structures.