Proteus
One connected body. Thousands of commanded cells.
What Proteus is
Not an array of actuators. A body of state elements.
Proteus is a shape-morphing mechanical metamaterial: one connected body of repeating ShapeCells whose geometry software sets and the cells hold.
Software commands cell states. Those states aggregate into physical geometry.
Because the cells are connected, Proteus is handled as one object: docked, reshaped, undocked, used. Because each cell has only two stable states, the body’s shape is set by a discrete state map, not by holding thousands of continuous positions.
Phase 1 Proteus is a sheet. It folds into three-dimensional form; it is not a block of stacked cells.
Cells stay connected. Proteus changes shape without coming apart.
Fig. 01 — Proteus, flat, on the Shape Dock
Concept renderGenerated geometry. No photograph of hardware exists.ShapeCell
Two stable geometries and a barrier between them.
A ShapeCell is a compliant mechanism: it moves by bending, not by sliding joints. It has two mechanically stable geometries separated by an energy barrier.
Pushed over the barrier, the cell drops into its other geometry and stays there. Nothing has to keep pushing. That makes the ShapeCell a mechanical state element, not a motor: closer to a bit of memory than to an actuator.
One cell is a binary choice. The body’s shape comes from how many cells there are and how they are arranged.
Fig. 02 — ShapeCell energy landscape, schematic
Shape Dock
The dock commands. The body holds.
The Shape Dock is the external field source and controller. It is where reconfiguration happens, and the only place it happens: Proteus must be docked to reconfigure.
Putting the drive in the dock keeps the body simple. There is no motor, battery or wiring per cell. Once latched, Proteus holds its geometry off-dock at zero power, and can be lifted off and put to work.
- On the dock
- Cells addressed, driven over their barriers, latched, checked.
- Off the dock
- Geometry held by the latched cells. No power drawn.
- Back on the dock
- Reshaped for the next job, or returned to flat.
Operating principle
Six steps, from state map to held form.
01Encode
The Shape Compiler turns a target geometry into a state map: one commanded state for every cell. Cells are coupled through the sheet. Switching one shifts its neighbours’ switching thresholds, so the order of passes matters.
02Select
The Shape Dock addresses the cells whose state has to change.
03Actuate
The dock's field drives each selected cell over its energy barrier.
04Latch
The cell settles into its other stable geometry. The geometry itself does the holding.
05Aggregate
Thousands of cell states add up to one physical form across the connected body.
06Verify
The formed geometry is checked against the target before Proteus leaves the dock.
Architecture
What the architecture fixes, and what it lets us replace.
The architecture is the commitment. The mechanisms that realise it are expected to change as the program learns. Separating the two keeps the claim honest about what is decided and what is still being chosen.
| Layer | Fixed by the architecture | Replaceable mechanism |
|---|---|---|
| State element | A cell with two mechanically stable geometries and an energy barrier between them | Cell geometry, material, size |
| Actuation | An external field from the dock. No motor in the cell | Field type, dock hardware |
| Holding | A mechanical latch. Zero power off the dock | Latch detail, barrier height |
| Body | One connected body of repeating cells | Tessellation, cell count, connection detail |
| Control | Intent to geometry model to state map to verified form | Solver, calibration model, verification sensor |
Definitions
Four terms, as this site uses them.
- Proteus
- Proteus is a shape-morphing mechanical metamaterial: one connected body of repeating ShapeCells whose geometry software sets and the cells hold.
- ShapeCell
- A ShapeCell is a compliant mechanism with two mechanically stable geometries separated by an energy barrier: a mechanical state element, not a motor.
- Shape Dock
- The Shape Dock is the external field source and controller. It is where reconfiguration happens, and the only place it happens: Proteus must be docked to reconfigure.
- Shape Compiler
- The Shape Compiler is the control layer. It is how a shape you want becomes thousands of cell states, and how those states become a form you can check.
Not claimed
What we are not claiming.
- Measured performance. Every figure on this site is a design target or an architecture description.
- Continuous motion. Proteus changes shape on the dock, then holds. It is not a motion system.
- Reconfiguration off the dock. Off-dock, Proteus holds; it does not change.
- Inverse design at large cell counts. It remains open, and is one of the things the program is built to answer.
- Photographs of hardware. Every image here is a concept render or generated geometry.
Questions
Short answers.
What is a ShapeCell?
A ShapeCell is the repeating unit of Proteus: a compliant mechanism designed to have two mechanically stable geometries separated by an energy barrier. It moves by bending, not by sliding joints. Pushed over the barrier, it is designed to settle into its other geometry and stay there, which makes it a bistable mechanical state element. One cell is a binary choice.
How is a ShapeCell different from a motor or an actuator?
A ShapeCell differs from a motor or an actuator because it is designed to hold a state rather than produce continuous motion. A motor holds position by drawing current. In the Proteus architecture, a ShapeCell is pushed over its energy barrier, and then its own geometry does the holding. The drive is the Shape Dock’s external field, which is not part of the cell.
Does Proteus need power to hold a shape?
Proteus is designed to hold its shape without power. Once latched, it holds its geometry off the dock at zero power; this is a design target, not yet measured on Nanoshape hardware. The holding is mechanical: each latched ShapeCell rests in one of its two stable geometries, and nothing has to keep pushing. Changing shape needs the Shape Dock.
Design targetWhat the design is built to do. Not yet measured on Nanoshape hardware. Source: Nanoshape design specification, September 2026.What is the Shape Dock?
The Shape Dock is the external field source and controller for Proteus. In the Proteus architecture, it is the only place reconfiguration happens: Proteus must be docked to change shape. The dock is designed to select cells, drive them over their energy barriers, let them latch and check the result. Off the dock, the latched cells are designed to hold the geometry.
How are cells selected and switched?
Cells in Proteus are designed to be selected externally, switched magnetically and mechanically latched. In the Proteus architecture, the Shape Compiler groups the cells that must change into passes. For each pass, the Shape Dock selects a set of cells and an external magnetic field switches them. Cells are coupled through the sheet, so the order of passes matters.
Meet with us.
Tell us what your work needs to change shape and hold. We will tell you plainly whether R1 fits it.