{"article_processing_charge":"No","language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"file":[{"file_id":"20284","file_name":"2025-Bhargava-Manas-Thesis.pdf","creator":"mbhargav","access_level":"open_access","file_size":161436245,"success":1,"date_created":"2025-09-03T10:40:52Z","relation":"main_file","date_updated":"2025-09-03T10:40:52Z","checksum":"5baf8ca46c86a94fc8380ff1007aabd4","content_type":"application/pdf"},{"date_updated":"2025-09-04T09:22:29Z","relation":"source_file","content_type":"application/x-zip-compressed","checksum":"66878fafbc0074f88ddd18f24a9fc647","creator":"mbhargav","access_level":"closed","file_name":"manas_phd_thesis_source_files.zip","file_id":"20285","date_created":"2025-09-03T13:18:05Z","file_size":198831315}],"type":"dissertation","oa_version":"Published Version","tmp":{"short":"CC BY-NC (4.0)","image":"/images/cc_by_nc.png","legal_code_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcode","name":"Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)"},"month":"09","degree_awarded":"PhD","doi":"10.15479/AT-ISTA-20276","oa":1,"OA_place":"repository","date_updated":"2025-09-12T12:18:50Z","title":"Design and control of deformable structures: From PCB lighting displays to elastomer robots","user_id":"8b945eb4-e2f2-11eb-945a-df72226e66a9","author":[{"first_name":"Manas","id":"FF8FA64C-AA6A-11E9-99AD-50D4E5697425","full_name":"Bhargava, Manas","last_name":"Bhargava","orcid":"0009-0007-6138-6890"}],"date_created":"2025-09-02T14:48:39Z","publisher":"Institute of Science and Technology Austria","abstract":[{"lang":"eng","text":"Complex 3D shapes can be created by morphing flat 2D configurations. Such deformations\r\neither preserve the intrinsic material geometry (e.g., folding paper) or modify it through\r\nlocalized contraction. Once transformed, the 3D shape can be further controlled to achieve a\r\ntarget functionality. A key challenge is to take the material specifications and the actuation\r\nprocess as input to automatically design the target 3D shape and its functionality. This thesis\r\npresents two novel computational pipelines for the design and control of shape-morphing\r\nstructures used to create functional prototypes.\r\nThe first pipeline borrows from the art of origami to fold paper into intricate shapes and\r\napplies this principle to make 3D lighting displays. We introduce, PCBend a computational\r\ndesign approach that covers a surface with individually addressable RGB LEDs, effectively\r\nforming a low-resolution surface by folding rigid printed circuit boards (PCBs). We optimize\r\ncut patterns on PCBs to act as hinges and co-design LED placement, circuit routing, and\r\nfabrication constraints to produce PCB blueprints. The PCBs are fabricated using automated\r\nstandard manufacturing services with LEDs embedded on them. Finally, the fabricated PCBs\r\nare cut along the contour and folded onto a 3D-printed support. The 3D lighting display is\r\nthen controlled to display complex surface light patterns.\r\nCreating 3D shapes through folding is only possible if their planar configuration, called ”unfolding” exists without any distortion or overlap. Existing methods often permit distortion\r\nor require multiple patches, which are unsuitable for fabrication pipelines that rely on folding\r\nnon-stretchable materials. We reinforce such fabrication pipelines by providing a geometric\r\nrelaxation to the problem, where the input shape is modified to admit overlap-free unfolding.\r\nThe second fabrication pipeline extends shape morphing to soft robotics by emulating nature’s\r\nblueprint of distributed actuation. Inspired by vertebrates, we build musculoskeletal robots\r\nusing modular active actuators, employing Liquid Crystal Elastomers (LCEs) as shrinkable\r\nartificial muscles integrated with 3D-printed bones. The chemical composition of LCEs is\r\naltered to enable untethered actuation through infrared radiation, allowing active control of\r\nindividual muscles and their corresponding bones. The combined motion of individual bones\r\ndefines the robot’s overall shape and functionality. Our proposed system significantly expands\r\nboth the design and control spaces of soft robots, which we harness using our computational\r\ndesign tools. We build several physical robots that exhibit complex shape morphing and varied\r\nterrain navigation, showcasing the versatility of our pipeline.\r\nThis thesis explores applications ranging from intricate light patterns displayed on 3D shapes\r\nformed by folding rigid PCBs to untethered robots that use contractile muscles to exhibit\r\nshape morphing and locomotion. Through these examples, the thesis highlights how computational design and distributed actuation, integrated with novel materials, can transform\r\npassive structures into functional prototypes."}],"ec_funded":1,"corr_author":"1","has_accepted_license":"1","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/","supervisor":[{"first_name":"Bernd","id":"49876194-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","full_name":"Bickel, Bernd","last_name":"Bickel","orcid":"0000-0001-6511-9385"}],"ddc":["000"],"status":"public","year":"2025","page":"96","project":[{"_id":"24F9549A-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425","grant_number":"715767","call_identifier":"H2020","name":"MATERIALIZABLE: Intelligent fabrication-oriented Computational Design and Modeling"}],"_id":"20276","file_date_updated":"2025-09-04T09:22:29Z","alternative_title":["ISTA Thesis"],"department":[{"_id":"GradSch"},{"_id":"BeBi"}],"date_published":"2025-09-02T00:00:00Z","publication_status":"published","day":"02","related_material":{"record":[{"relation":"part_of_dissertation","status":"public","id":"13049"},{"id":"18565","status":"public","relation":"part_of_dissertation"},{"relation":"part_of_dissertation","status":"public","id":"20286"}]},"acknowledgement":"Financial support was provided by the European Research Council (ERC) under grant agreement No 715767 - MATERIALIZABLE: Intelligent fabrication-oriented Computational Design\r\nand Modeling that I gratefully acknowledge.\r\n","citation":{"ista":"Bhargava M. 2025. Design and control of deformable structures: From PCB lighting displays to elastomer robots. Institute of Science and Technology Austria.","ama":"Bhargava M. Design and control of deformable structures: From PCB lighting displays to elastomer robots. 2025. doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20276\">10.15479/AT-ISTA-20276</a>","ieee":"M. Bhargava, “Design and control of deformable structures: From PCB lighting displays to elastomer robots,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025.","mla":"Bhargava, Manas. <i>Design and Control of Deformable Structures: From PCB Lighting Displays to Elastomer Robots</i>. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20276\">10.15479/AT-ISTA-20276</a>.","chicago":"Bhargava, Manas. “Design and Control of Deformable Structures: From PCB Lighting Displays to Elastomer Robots.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20276\">https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20276</a>.","apa":"Bhargava, M. (2025). <i>Design and control of deformable structures: From PCB lighting displays to elastomer robots</i>. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20276\">https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20276</a>","short":"M. Bhargava, Design and Control of Deformable Structures: From PCB Lighting Displays to Elastomer Robots, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025."},"publication_identifier":{"isbn":["978-3-99078-065-7"],"issn":["2663-337X"]}}