Dynamic drives allow independent control of material bits for targeted memory

Area of Science:

• Physics
• Materials Science
• Engineering

Background:

• Mechanical metamaterials with bistable elements offer high information storage capacity.
• Current methods for writing information in these systems are inefficient, requiring local control or multiple cycles.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel dynamic control strategy for efficient information writing in bistable mechanical metamaterials.
• To enable single global drive cycle access to any memory configuration.

Main Methods:

• Implemented a dynamic control strategy leveraging system sensitivity to drive and its time derivatives.
• Utilized bistable beams on a rotating platform, translating drive cycles into orbits in angular velocity and acceleration control space.
• Designed switching thresholds for state changes based on drive orbit crossings.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated a five-bit system with full addressability.
• Successfully wrote all 26 uppercase letters of the alphabet in ASCII representation using selected drive orbits.
• Showcased the effectiveness of the dynamic control paradigm in a physical system.

Conclusions:

• The dynamic control strategy provides a general and efficient method for writing information in bistable mechanical metamaterials.
• This approach overcomes the limitations of traditional, multi-cycle writing protocols.
• The paradigm offers potential for developing smart, remotely operated devices in various physical domains.