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Using components made from smart shape-memory materials with slightly different responses to heat, researchers have demonstrated a 4-D printing technology that allows the creation of complex self-folding structures. The technology could be used to create 3-D structures that sequentially fold themselves from components that had been flat or rolled into a tube for shipment.
The components could respond to stimuli such as temperature, moisture or light in a way that is precisely timed to create space structures, deployable medical devices, robots, toys and range of other structures.Image credit: Qi Laboratory
