Descripción del proyecto
Metamateriales con comportamiento neuroactivo
Los metamateriales están diseñados artificialmente y dotados de propiedades que van más allá de las que se encuentran en los materiales naturales. A pesar de su amplia aplicabilidad en sistemas de comunicación, detección y robótica, los metamateriales se basan en combustibles fósiles y muestran una elevada huella de carbono. El equipo del proyecto NEUROMETA, financiado con fondos europeos, está interesado en el desarrollo de metamateriales con comportamiento neuroactivo. Los investigadores aprovecharán las propiedades inherentes de las fibras vegetales naturales y de la seda de las arañas para diseñar y generar novedosas arquitecturas de metamateriales. El trabajo dará lugar a metamateriales con comportamientos adaptativos que imitarán las redes neuronales artificiales y cuya fabricación será, al mismo tiempo, respetuosa con el medio ambiente.
Objetivo
Metamaterials with anomalous and counter-intuitive multiphysics behaviours have been developed during the last two decades to help communication systems, sensing and robotics. Paradigmatic developments in artificial intelligence, Digital Twin approaches and additive manufacturing are pushing the design and production of metamaterials also towards the development artificial equivalent of synapsis and programmability. These advanced metamaterial concepts are however fossil-based and tend to make use of materials with a high carbon footprint and heavy life cycle costs in terms of emissions and environmental sustainability. Sensing/actuation mechanisms are also innate in natural plant fibres, spider silk strands and enzymatic systems, and involve saturation, hygromorphism, piezoelectricity and controlled hysteresis that could provide similar synaptic behaviours. Programmable memory properties could also be mechanically created in solid matter, and similar mnemonic-type architectures abound in natural fibres and related composites. While neurogenesis in electromagnetic metamaterials is at early stages of development, no neuroactive mechanical metamaterial concept and design based on biobased materials has been developed so far. The project aims at developing this paradigmatic new class of metamaterials. We will explore the use of natural fibre composites, bio-based matrices, spider silk strands, 3D printing of bioblock materials and natural piezoelectricity in wood/cellulose combined with metamaterial architectures to develop artificial bio-based and sustainable surrogates of programmable memory with learning/adaptive behaviours similar to artificial neural networks. These metamaterials will autonomously learn from their past loading history and generate resilience in the structures in which they are embedded. The natural materials will also have low carbon footprint and could be further developed by worldwide R&D communities based on the resources locally available.
Ámbito científico
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsrenewable energy
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringcomposites
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringrobotics
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringmanufacturing engineeringadditive manufacturing
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectrical engineeringpiezoelectrics
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
ERC-ADG - Advanced GrantInstitución de acogida
BS8 1QU Bristol
Reino Unido