GoKawiilResearchers build mechatronic metamaterial that exhibits time-crystal-like wave coarsening
Engineers constructed a lattice of hexagonal unit cells, each fitted with a compliant flexure, voice coil actuator and Hall effect sensor, linked through a microcontroller that applies a non-reciprocal force rule based on measured strain. The team reports that interactions between active hexagons produce coarsening of mechanical waves across the structure, a behavior associated with time crystallization in an engineered, programmable material.