MIT just reinvented the ZIPPER 🤯
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MIT has resurrected a 1985 patent that no one had ever actually managed to realize.
The engineer who proposed it envisioned a three-arm hinge capable of transforming soft structures into rigid beams in a matter of seconds and vice versa, but the technology at the time wasn't ready, and the project was shelved.
Now MIT has revived it and 3D printed it. Unlike the zipper we know, which joins two flaps, the Y zipper joins three. When open, it's soft and flexible, while when closed, the arms interlock to form a triangular tube, the same geometry that makes bridges and trusses rigid.
With software, you can even choose the final shape—straight, arched, spiral, or twisted—and a 3D printer builds it automatically.
The applications are endless. For example, it allows you to set up a tent in 1 minute, a brace to tighten or loosen depending on the time of day, and a robot to change the height of its legs with a single command. And these are just some of the possible uses.
Did you already know about this invention? Let us know in the comments 👇🏻