journal article·2026-07-17Open access

Kresling Origami‐Based Metamaterial Robot for Dynamic Electromagnetic Control

Xinxi Zeng, Long Zhou, Shaojie Xi, Yixuan Gao, Desheng Pan, Chaoyang Sun, Haoxin Sun, Xian Wang, Lingyun Qian, Peipei Li, Pengfei Zhu, Bo Li, Jiang Luo, Ji Zhou

Abstract

ABSTRACT Reconfigurable metamaterials have enabled significant progress toward tunable microwave devices, yet existing approaches are often hindered by limited mechanical reconfigurability and susceptibility to electromagnetic interference. Here, we introduce a type of metamaterial robot that harnesses bistable Kresling origami to achieve dynamic electromagnetic control. By integrating pneumatically driven folding architectures with digital light processing–printed SrTiO 3 high‐permittivity ceramic patches, our design establishes a unified platform where mechanical deformation and microwave resonant behavior can be actively and synergistically regulated. The coupled extension‐twisting motion inherent to the Kresling geometry simultaneously tailors the axial height, in‐plane orientation, local propagation phase, and boundary conditions of the ceramic resonators, thereby modulating the excitation conditions of dielectric resonance responses across distinct frequency bands. Experimentally, transitioning a single origami unit from its folded state to its deployed state increases the number of resolvable reflection peaks from two to three, with a minimum reflectance reaching approximately −35.6 dB. Rotating the SrTiO 3 patches further shifts the dual‐resonance center frequencies from 3.71–3.87 Hz and 16.72–17.26 GHz to 4.36–4.45 GHz and 16.31–16.72 GHz, respectively. Expanding this concept to a spatially heterogeneous origami array enables coupled control of both resonance peaks, yielding a minimum peak reflectance as low as −54.4 dB and a reflection modulation depth of 51.0 dB at 12 GHz.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Metamaterials and Metasurfaces Applications · Advanced Materials and Mechanics · Advanced Antenna and Metasurface Technologies

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

School of Mechanical Engineering University of Science and Technology Beijing Beijing People's Republic of China

State Key Laboratory of New Ceramic Materials School of Materials Science and Engineering Tsinghua University Beijing People's Republic of China

Institute of Materials Research Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School Tsinghua University Shenzhen People's Republic of China

Beijing Bayi School International Department Beijing People's Republic of China

State Key Laboratory for Advanced Metals and Materials University of Science and Technology Beijing Beijing People's Republic of China

The Ninth Research Institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation Mianyang People's Republic of China

Foshan (Southern China) Institute for New Materials Foshan People's Republic of China

School of Electronics and Information Hangzhou Dianzi University Hangzhou People's Republic of China

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China · Natural Science Foundation of Beijing Municipality · National Key Research and Development Program of China

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