Self-Replicating Spheres

Self-Assembly Lab, MIT - Dimitris Mairopoulos, Skylar Tibbits

Self-Replicating Spheres explores the processes of growth, encapsulation and division through macro-scale objects on an oscillating table. This project attempts to demonstrate synthetic cellular division and replication through non-biological physical objects, without the use of robotics. The individual spheres were created with a hollow shell and an arrangement of small metal spheres and magnets. This internal structure provides the force of attraction for growing connections, the flexibility and, ultimately, the capability to divide. By adding more spherical units and supplying energy in the form of the oscillating table, the system will continually grow and divide.

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Growing Islands 4D Knit Dress 3D Knit BioSuit™ Haptiknit Liquid Metal Printing Personalized Knit Masks Climate-Active Textiles Active Textile Tailoring Active Patterned Scarves Liquid to Air: Pneumatic Objects Liquid Printed Pneumatics Liquid Printed Products Rapid Liquid Printing Liquid Printed Natives Active Shoes Liquid Printed Textile Shoes Active Textile Jamming Bodies Slip-Form Rock Jamming Modular and Morphable Jamming Rock Printing Programmable Materials Transformable Meeting Spaces Transformable Screen Wall Active Auxetics Programmable Table 4D Printing Fluid Crystallization Self-Replicating Spheres Fluid Lattices Aerial Assembly Fluid-Assembly Chair Self-Assembly Cell Phone Hyperform Self-folding Proteins Autonomous Mass Assembly BioMolecular Self-Assembly Self-Assembly Line DNA Printing C-Strands Macrobot & Decibot Logic Matter