nodes. After the helium faded, the units
landed on the ground leaving a self-
assembled cubic lightweight self-supporting
space frame, 3 metres (10 feet) on each side,
demonstrating large-scale self-assembly.
Apart from crystal-like growth and
deterministic assembly of complex structures,
the Self-Assembly Lab has also explored
biological processes such as cellular replication
in physical, non-biological, components. For
example, Self-Replicating Spheres (2015)
explored the processes of growth and division
though the agitation of simple spherical units.
For this study, a number of spherical units were
made, consisting of a hollow shell containing
an identical
configuration
of metal spheres
and
magnets. The configuration
of the metal
spheres and magnets, which provided the
force of attraction for the units, was chosen as
the best connecting solution for their growth
and division, after a series of
studies. The
strength of the magnets and the
flexibility
of
the internal shape were just strong enough
to permit bonding, but weak enough to allow
them to continually separate when stretched to
a certain angle.
The individual units were placed randomly
on an oscillating table, allowing them to
shuffle
dynamically and continuously assemble, grow
and
divide. ...
