Researchers at MIT have developed a type of 3D printed material that can sense how it is moving and interacting with its surrounding environment. The 3D printed lattice materials contain networks of air-filled channels, allowing engineers to detect when bending, squeezing, or stretching of the structure causes a change in air pressure through the channels.

“The idea with this work is that we can take any material that can be 3D printed and have a simple way to route channels throughout it so we can get sensorization with structure,” said Lillian Chin, a graduate student at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) who co-led the study. “And if you use really complex materials, then you can have motion, perception, and structure all in one.”

Embedding sensors in materials is not a new phenomenon. However, most strategies revolve around placing sensors on the outside of the material, which does not always provide a full understanding of how a material is deforming or moving.

The MIT research instead uses 3D printing to build a sensory method into the material itself during the printing process, in the form of air-filled channels in the struts that form the lattice. When the structure is moved or deformed, the volume of air inside the channels changes. Researchers can measure this change using a standard pressure sensor, thus giving feedback on how the material is being altered.

The research is one of several breakthroughs in material science announced in recent weeks. Earlier this week, researchers at Washington State University demonstrated a way of using shrimp shells to create stronger, more sustainable cement, while in July, University of Virginia researchers developed 3D printed structures made of soil and seeds.

In April, a team at Virginia Tech completed the world’s first observation tower with innovative low-carbon timber, while in February, a separate group of MIT researchers created a new material as light as plastic and strong as steel.