WEBVTT 00:00:00.346 --> 00:00:03.116 This is me building a prototype 00:00:03.116 --> 00:00:06.036 for six hours straight. 00:00:06.036 --> 00:00:09.957 This is slave labor to my own project. 00:00:09.957 --> 00:00:14.947 This is what the DIY and maker movements really look like. 00:00:14.947 --> 00:00:19.713 And this is an analogy for today's construction and manufacturing world 00:00:19.713 --> 00:00:22.501 with brute-force assembly techniques. 00:00:22.501 --> 00:00:25.335 And this is exactly why I started studying 00:00:25.335 --> 00:00:29.604 how to program physical materials to build themselves. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:29.604 --> 00:00:31.364 But there is another world. 00:00:31.364 --> 00:00:33.359 Today at the micro- and nanoscales, 00:00:33.359 --> 00:00:36.110 there's an unprecedented revolution happening. 00:00:36.110 --> 00:00:40.242 And this is the ability to program physical and biological materials 00:00:40.242 --> 00:00:42.966 to change shape, change properties 00:00:42.966 --> 00:00:45.952 and even compute outside of silicon-based matter. 00:00:45.952 --> 00:00:48.459 There's even a software called cadnano 00:00:48.459 --> 00:00:51.242 that allows us to design three-dimensional shapes 00:00:51.242 --> 00:00:54.326 like nano robots or drug delivery systems 00:00:54.326 --> 00:00:58.629 and use DNA to self-assemble those functional structures. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:58.629 --> 00:01:00.702 But if we look at the human scale, 00:01:00.702 --> 00:01:03.758 there's massive problems that aren't being addressed 00:01:03.758 --> 00:01:06.126 by those nanoscale technologies. 00:01:06.126 --> 00:01:08.225 If we look at construction and manufacturing, 00:01:08.225 --> 00:01:12.418 there's major inefficiencies, energy consumption 00:01:12.418 --> 00:01:14.745 and excessive labor techniques. 00:01:14.745 --> 00:01:17.250 In infrastructure, let's just take one example. 00:01:17.250 --> 00:01:18.733 Take piping. 00:01:18.733 --> 00:01:22.458 In water pipes, we have fixed-capacity water pipes 00:01:22.458 --> 00:01:26.917 that have fixed flow rates, except for expensive pumps and valves. 00:01:26.917 --> 00:01:28.208 We bury them in the ground. 00:01:28.208 --> 00:01:30.829 If anything changes -- if the environment changes, 00:01:30.829 --> 00:01:33.466 the ground moves, or demand changes -- 00:01:33.466 --> 00:01:37.716 we have to start from scratch and take them out and replace them. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:37.716 --> 00:01:41.084 So I'd like to propose that we can combine those two worlds, 00:01:41.084 --> 00:01:46.255 that we can combine the world of the nanoscale programmable adaptive materials 00:01:46.255 --> 00:01:47.932 and the built environment. 00:01:47.932 --> 00:01:50.118 And I don't mean automated machines. 00:01:50.118 --> 00:01:52.577 I don't just mean smart machines that replace humans. 00:01:52.577 --> 00:01:56.461 But I mean programmable materials that build themselves. 00:01:56.461 --> 00:01:58.517 And that's called self-assembly, 00:01:58.517 --> 00:02:03.034 which is a process by which disordered parts build an ordered structure 00:02:03.034 --> 00:02:05.527 through only local interaction. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:05.527 --> 00:02:08.702 So what do we need if we want to do this at the human scale? 00:02:08.702 --> 00:02:10.677 We need a few simple ingredients. 00:02:10.677 --> 00:02:13.516 The first ingredient is materials and geometry, 00:02:13.516 --> 00:02:16.985 and that needs to be tightly coupled with the energy source. 00:02:16.985 --> 00:02:18.643 And you can use passive energy -- 00:02:18.643 --> 00:02:23.327 so heat, shaking, pneumatics, gravity, magnetics. 00:02:23.327 --> 00:02:26.402 And then you need smartly designed interactions. 00:02:26.402 --> 00:02:28.535 And those interactions allow for error correction, 00:02:28.535 --> 00:02:32.535 and they allow the shapes to go from one state to another state. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:32.535 --> 00:02:35.767 So now I'm going to show you a number of projects that we've built, 00:02:35.767 --> 00:02:39.051 from one-dimensional, two-dimensional, three-dimensional 00:02:39.051 --> 00:02:42.118 and even four-dimensional systems. 00:02:42.118 --> 00:02:44.004 So in one-dimensional systems -- 00:02:44.004 --> 00:02:46.911 this is a project called the self-folding proteins. 00:02:46.911 --> 00:02:51.618 And the idea is that you take the three-dimensional structure of a protein -- 00:02:51.618 --> 00:02:54.299 in this case it's the crambin protein -- 00:02:54.299 --> 00:02:57.945 you take the backbone -- so no cross-linking, no environmental interactions -- 00:02:57.945 --> 00:03:01.096 and you break that down into a series of components. 00:03:01.096 --> 00:03:03.370 And then we embed elastic. 00:03:03.370 --> 00:03:05.711 And when I throw this up into the air and catch it, 00:03:05.711 --> 00:03:10.562 it has the full three-dimensional structure of the protein, all of the intricacies. 00:03:10.562 --> 00:03:12.662 And this gives us a tangible model 00:03:12.662 --> 00:03:16.396 of the three-dimensional protein and how it folds 00:03:16.396 --> 00:03:18.680 and all of the intricacies of the geometry. 00:03:18.680 --> 00:03:22.128 So we can study this as a physical, intuitive model. 00:03:22.128 --> 00:03:24.930 And we're also translating that into two-dimensional systems -- 00:03:24.930 --> 00:03:29.229 so flat sheets that can self-fold into three-dimensional structures. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:29.229 --> 00:03:33.682 In three dimensions, we did a project last year at TEDGlobal 00:03:33.682 --> 00:03:35.646 with Autodesk and Arthur Olson 00:03:35.646 --> 00:03:37.344 where we looked at autonomous parts -- 00:03:37.344 --> 00:03:41.663 so individual parts not pre-connected that can come together on their own. 00:03:41.663 --> 00:03:44.429 And we built 500 of these glass beakers. 00:03:44.429 --> 00:03:46.896 They had different molecular structures inside 00:03:46.896 --> 00:03:49.120 and different colors that could be mixed and matched. 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:51.369 And we gave them away to all the TEDsters. 00:03:51.369 --> 00:03:53.870 And so these became intuitive models 00:03:53.870 --> 00:03:57.362 to understand how molecular self-assembly works at the human scale. 00:03:57.362 --> 00:03:59.179 This is the polio virus. 00:03:59.179 --> 00:04:01.111 You shake it hard and it breaks apart. 00:04:01.111 --> 00:04:02.557 And then you shake it randomly 00:04:02.557 --> 00:04:06.061 and it starts to error correct and built the structure on its own. 00:04:06.061 --> 00:04:09.028 And this is demonstrating that through random energy, 00:04:09.028 --> 00:04:13.656 we can build non-random shapes. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:13.656 --> 00:04:17.180 We even demonstrated that we can do this at a much larger scale. 00:04:17.180 --> 00:04:19.334 Last year at TED Long Beach, 00:04:19.334 --> 00:04:22.545 we built an installation that builds installations. 00:04:22.545 --> 00:04:26.082 The idea was, could we self-assemble furniture-scale objects? 00:04:26.082 --> 00:04:28.583 So we built a large rotating chamber, 00:04:28.583 --> 00:04:31.796 and people would come up and spin the chamber faster or slower, 00:04:31.796 --> 00:04:33.381 adding energy to the system 00:04:33.381 --> 00:04:36.827 and getting an intuitive understanding of how self-assembly works 00:04:36.827 --> 00:04:38.206 and how we could use this 00:04:38.206 --> 00:04:42.952 as a macroscale construction or manufacturing technique for products. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:42.952 --> 00:04:44.619 So remember, I said 4D. 00:04:44.619 --> 00:04:48.314 So today for the first time, we're unveiling a new project, 00:04:48.314 --> 00:04:50.200 which is a collaboration with Stratasys, 00:04:50.200 --> 00:04:52.035 and it's called 4D printing. 00:04:52.035 --> 00:04:53.995 The idea behind 4D printing 00:04:53.995 --> 00:04:56.995 is that you take multi-material 3D printing -- 00:04:56.995 --> 00:04:59.184 so you can deposit multiple materials -- 00:04:59.184 --> 00:05:01.068 and you add a new capability, 00:05:01.068 --> 00:05:02.934 which is transformation, 00:05:02.934 --> 00:05:04.251 that right off the bed, 00:05:04.251 --> 00:05:08.578 the parts can transform from one shape to another shape directly on their own. 00:05:08.578 --> 00:05:12.078 And this is like robotics without wires or motors. 00:05:12.078 --> 00:05:13.729 So you completely print this part, 00:05:13.729 --> 00:05:16.533 and it can transform into something else. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:16.533 --> 00:05:21.494 We also worked with Autodesk on a software they're developing called Project Cyborg. 00:05:21.494 --> 00:05:24.617 And this allows us to simulate this self-assembly behavior 00:05:24.617 --> 00:05:27.819 and try to optimize which parts are folding when. 00:05:27.819 --> 00:05:30.549 But most importantly, we can use this same software 00:05:30.549 --> 00:05:33.457 for the design of nanoscale self-assembly systems 00:05:33.457 --> 00:05:36.300 and human scale self-assembly systems. 00:05:36.300 --> 00:05:39.813 These are parts being printed with multi-material properties. 00:05:39.813 --> 00:05:41.530 Here's the first demonstration. 00:05:41.530 --> 00:05:43.434 A single strand dipped in water 00:05:43.434 --> 00:05:45.783 that completely self-folds on its own 00:05:45.783 --> 00:05:49.701 into the letters M I T. 00:05:49.701 --> 00:05:51.523 I'm biased. 00:05:51.523 --> 00:05:54.972 This is another part, single strand, dipped in a bigger tank 00:05:54.972 --> 00:05:59.595 that self-folds into a cube, a three-dimensional structure, on its own. 00:05:59.595 --> 00:06:01.446 So no human interaction. 00:06:01.446 --> 00:06:03.335 And we think this is the first time 00:06:03.335 --> 00:06:05.582 that a program and transformation 00:06:05.582 --> 00:06:08.832 has been embedded directly into the materials themselves. 00:06:08.832 --> 00:06:11.562 And it also might just be the manufacturing technique 00:06:11.562 --> 00:06:15.696 that allows us to produce more adaptive infrastructure in the future. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:15.696 --> 00:06:16.882 So I know you're probably thinking, 00:06:16.882 --> 00:06:21.114 okay, that's cool, but how do we use any of this stuff for the built environment? 00:06:21.114 --> 00:06:23.369 So I've started a lab at MIT, 00:06:23.369 --> 00:06:25.251 and it's called the Self-Assembly Lab. 00:06:25.251 --> 00:06:28.395 And we're dedicated to trying to develop programmable materials 00:06:28.395 --> 00:06:29.586 for the built environment. 00:06:29.586 --> 00:06:31.549 And we think there's a few key sectors 00:06:31.549 --> 00:06:33.863 that have fairly near-term applications. 00:06:33.863 --> 00:06:35.918 One of those is in extreme environments. 00:06:35.918 --> 00:06:38.464 These are scenarios where it's difficult to build, 00:06:38.464 --> 00:06:40.952 our current construction techniques don't work, 00:06:40.952 --> 00:06:44.512 it's too large, it's too dangerous, it's expensive, too many parts. 00:06:44.512 --> 00:06:46.879 And space is a great example of that. 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:49.245 We're trying to design new scenarios for space 00:06:49.245 --> 00:06:52.545 that have fully reconfigurable and self-assembly structures 00:06:52.545 --> 00:06:56.235 that can go from highly functional systems from one to another. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:56.235 --> 00:06:58.346 Let's go back to infrastructure. 00:06:58.346 --> 00:07:02.245 In infrastructure, we're working with a company out of Boston called Geosyntec. 00:07:02.245 --> 00:07:05.045 And we're developing a new paradigm for piping. 00:07:05.045 --> 00:07:08.668 Imagine if water pipes could expand or contract 00:07:08.668 --> 00:07:11.418 to change capacity or change flow rate, 00:07:11.418 --> 00:07:15.952 or maybe even undulate like peristaltics to move the water themselves. 00:07:15.952 --> 00:07:18.562 So this isn't expensive pumps or valves. 00:07:18.562 --> 00:07:22.845 This is a completely programmable and adaptive pipe on its own. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:22.845 --> 00:07:24.660 So I want to remind you today 00:07:24.660 --> 00:07:28.044 of the harsh realities of assembly in our world. 00:07:28.044 --> 00:07:31.509 These are complex things built with complex parts 00:07:31.509 --> 00:07:34.294 that come together in complex ways. 00:07:34.294 --> 00:07:37.493 So I would like to invite you from whatever industry you're from 00:07:37.493 --> 00:07:41.546 to join us in reinventing and reimagining the world, 00:07:41.546 --> 00:07:45.245 how things come together from the nanoscale to the human scale, 00:07:45.245 --> 00:07:48.320 so that we can go from a world like this 00:07:48.320 --> 00:07:51.270 to a world that's more like this. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:00.632 --> 00:08:02.542 Thank you. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:02.542 --> 00:08:04.843 (Applause)