Noise-immune Mechanical Wave Computing via Metamaterials

Authors: Iyitunde Akinsola, Mostafa Nouh

SUNY Campus: SUNY Buffalo

Presentation Type: Poster

Location: Old Union Hall

Presentation #: 54

Timeslot: Session D 3:00-4:00 PM

Abstract: Mechanical Computers (MCs) have historically been employed for tasks such as astronomical calculations, tide height estimation, and economic modeling. With the rise of digital electronics and owing to their fast-computing speed, MCs became obsolete. However, there is still a critical need for mechanical systems to maintain intelligence and information processing capabilities in remote locations, elevated temperatures, and ionizing radiation where digital computing is infeasible. Mechanical wave-based computing harnesses acoustic wave properties such as amplitude, frequency, and phase to encode and process information, providing a path for computing in extreme environments. Yet, these waves are vulnerable to disturbances that can interfere with and distort signals, limiting computational capabilities. Metamaterials, which are artificially engineered structures, exhibit unique mechanical properties like vibration absorption and tunable band gaps. This research investigates the immunity of metamaterial-based MCs to external noise. By analyzing individual unit cells of the metamaterial incorporating local resonators, wave propagation and dispersion curves can be predicted. This approach also reveals band gap characteristics that can be optimized by fine-tuning the geometry of the unit cell to filter out undesirable noise. Our findings demonstrate the capability to perform computational tasks without noise interference, offering a significant computational advantage in challenging conditions.