How a ketchup bottle cap helped Princeton researchers develop a shape-shifting robot

Sep 22, 2026

Princeton Engineering researchers led by Glaucio Paulino have drawn inspiration from the familiar snap of a ketchup bottle cap to develop a magnetically controlled robot that can roll, crawl and change shape without a motor. Their study of curved shells and curved-crease origami revealed how structures can develop multiple stable configurations, including unexpected states created by deformation known as pseudocreases.

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