A kinematically Bifurcated Metamaterial for Integrated Logic Operation and Computing

Mechanical computing metamaterials, which utilize transitions among discrete configurations to process information autonomously when perceiving external stimuli, are important in the development of intelligent mechanical systems. However, most current designs involve tessellations of planar mechanisms or bistable structures, which typically offer only two distinct configurations, requiring many units to provide multiple input-outputs for complex logic operations with little consideration of system integration. Here, We propose a family of 2n-side kinematic polygonal modules introducing n decoupled inputs and 2ⁿ transitable extreme configurations, which are coupled with electrical circuits to construct conductive logic metamaterials for mechanical computing. To simplify the construction of logic computing systems, a minimized combinatorial logic canonical function, the parallel computing sum of the product (PCSoP) function, is developed. We first design and integrate seven basic logic gates on a quadrilateral module, followed by implementing all four types of 2-bit arithmetic operations with a single polygonal module, where the 2-bit divider on an octagonal module is designed for the first time. Moreover, information display and simultaneous recognition of three mathematical properties of the decoded decimal numbers 2-15 are implemented on one polygonal module. This kinematics-based design strategy for mechanical computing metamaterials will greatly advance the development of mechanical intelligence.