Topological Mechanics: from Metamaterials to Robots

The aim of this workshop is to study purely mechanical structures that are insensitive to smooth changes in material parameters and a range of structural deformations. They are topologically protected classical systems that can often be mapped mathematically to their electronic counterparts in topological insulators, superconductors and quantum Hall states. From the perspective of mechanical engineering, topological protection can be a useful design principle for topological meta-materials and robotic systems whose properties are robust against undesired perturbations.