Why Machines That Bend Are Better 

Professor Howell: "Here's my book, it's the most cited book in the field." He's flexing.

11:27 "So are these now being used on nuclear weapons?" "You know, it turns out they don't tell us" Now I know how to take my resume to the next level.

I work in an R&D lab of a Swiss watchmaking company, and I can tell you that compliant mechanisms are currently by far the hottest topic in research for mechanical watches. For example, they're used in the form of microfabricated oscillatorsmade of Silicon in the Frederique Constant Monolithic and the Zenith Defy Lab.

This is amazing. As a mechanical engineering student, we are learning all the ways to prevent bending and shear, whilst you guys are taking advantage of it to make advanced mechanisms.

1:37 Engineers in their natural habitat: easily startled, and run away at the first sign of danger.

_Any machine is flexible if you're just strong enough_

"What if I stick my finger in it?" "You'll scream in pain" "Sounds great let's do it!"

I knew the mechanisms in Mark Rober's new video looked familiar; I guess this is where I saw them.

"you would scream in pain " *puts his finger and then scream * they don't call him a scientist for nothing bud

“Why machines that bend are better” iPhone 6: right....

Always great when you can use Veritasium as a source in essays and stuff. Doing a 1st year eng research essay on the possible application of Compliant mechanisms in landing gear for spacecraft. (due in 3 hours as of writing this[almost done]) It is so nice to be able to watch a video and then understand(at least a vague understanding) of what all the papers I'm reading are actually saying. Edit: got an extension, now I can expand my conclusion paragraph

Thanks to incredible people such as Professor Howell we as a species can evolve and get better. Science is amazing

The thruster control module was probably the coolest thing I've seen all year.

My new favourite video from you Derek!

My professor made a lot of components for electrical devices... feeling lucky to be learning with him! Mechanics of Materials

Amazingly efficient and impressive. The possibilities at the quantum level have suddenly come into perspective. Good video!

That man was such good sport. Very open with how it works. I personally thank him for being on this episode

That prof looks so humble. All engineering profs should be this cool.

This really calls for much respect for this research group and Professor

I would have loved him as a professor! If I had the opportunity to switch to compliant mechanisms for my speciality, I definitely would.

That thruster control for the satellite is a thing of beauty. I'd love to see an animation of how it works!

"machines that bend are better" Bender: "shut up baby, i know it."

I really loved the idea of these machines and this type of mechanisms seriously need to be used more...thank you for the enlightenment.

Why YT didn't recommended something like this few years before. I am happy to see such mechanism and videos regarding the same.

As a former student of mechanical engineering I feel like this is the real business. 3D printing is a pretty cool addition to the toolbox but going back and rethinking linkage mechanisms in this way feels way, way more exciting and fruitful to me.

"Why Machines That Bend Are Better" written by Bender B Rodriguez

You, your team, and all the people that you feature are so very talented. thank you for sharing as always brother

FASCINATING! In slow motion some of these components are still deceptively clever. Modeling the 'snap' point of such materials must be complicated, to the point that trying different materials, widths, and angles are no doubt exhaustively checked during prototyping.

Weird flex but okay

This is honestly one of, if not the best video you've made. Was great to learn so much about a topic I didn't even know existed.

I had a complain mechanism class last year during my Bachelor in Microtechnic at EPFL, and I loved it!

This is crazy good. Opens the door for my brain to think of many cool mechanisms that I did not think of before. Really awesome. Thank you so much!

Please, just pause for a moment and reflect on the fact that the phrase "3D-printed titanium" is, in fact, an ACTUAL THING. That is freakin' awesome... what a time to be alive!

"Is that good thinking?" "It's thinking at least." Heheh. I like this guy.

I want to scrutinize this out of enculcated bias so much and yet it's all so brilliant.

This guy and his work should be in school books! He is the definition of thinking outside the box.

I am stunned by this level of mechanical and dynamical precision.

Hinges: *bends Bendy machines: "but can you do this"

This is pretty cool, makes sense for some applications. My major concern would be stress and fatigue issues, of which they are obviously aware, and for which they have done some testing.

Eye-opening, fun, clever as hell and incredibly important.

This is mind-bending, but luckily, my mind is flexible and compliant.

3:54 "I got a quiz for you" "Oh-oh" Natural reaction.

dude so humble and chill but also shaping the future lol this was nice and educational

I was mind blown by the first titanium hinge. My jaw legitimately dropped, and I’ve only done that 3 times before in my 21 years of life.

8 P's 1.) Part Count (Less) 2:42 2.) Production Processes (Various) 3:28 3.) Price (Inexpensive) 3:33 4.) Precise Motion (no backlash) 5:21 5.) Performance (no backlash) 5:38 6.) Proportions (smaller) 7:18 7.) Portable (lightweight, space application) 7:33 8.) Predictability (safing & arming WMDs) 10:17 in case you missed them :)

1:37 ahh the humble engineers in their natural, mostly awkward and camera shy states XD

In the military we use a lot of carbiners [sic] and S clips and about 2007 they changed from using springs to bendy part to be a piece of steel with offset connection to the solid bit.

Some people are just so smart.. Thank you for existing and providing your gift to the world

Practical examples of use of compliant mechanisms in everyday products 1. Every shampoo bottle uses a live hinge made by injection molding - very cheap, durable and assembly free. 2. Computer mouse buttons use flexures (those bendy things you see throughout the video). The microswitch inside it has a diaphragm flexure and the top casing flexes when you press on it to transmit the compressive force. Older mouse models had separate distinguishable buttons, now its all one piece. 3. Cable ties have a very small tooth with a flexure that engages a rack. You can often reuse cable ties by disengaging the tooth from the rack using a pin and pull out the rack while holding tooth off the rack with the pin. 4. All plastic components of every product you use has a snap fit for assembly - no requirement of fasteners. 5. Every book uses live hinges (crease where you bend) for opening and closing. 6. Some cheap click type ball point pen (e.g. Bic retractable pen) uses flexures to keep the extended pen nib in its position. 7. Tic tac box uses living hinge for the lid. 8. Volume rockers on your cell phone uses flexures instead of springs to bounce back 9. If you have a wind up pendulum clock, the pendulum is suspended by a flexure for avoiding friction caused by use of a pivot. 10. Snap fit locks for straps in duffle bags/backpacks etc. 11. Some shot microphone mounts uses flexures for vibration isolation. 12. Camera lens covers uses flexures for springs for holding the cover on the lens. 13. Disposable food containers, clamps for IV lines. 14. Paper clips. 15. Foldable plastic forks found in ready to eat noodles have a living hinge in the middle for folding. 16. Leaf springs in vehicle suspension (Thanks to Heartycoffee in the comments for suggestion). 17. Tweezers and forceps (Thanks to randal gibbons in the comments for suggestion) 18. Safety pins (Thanks to DrBrainSol in the comments for suggestion) 19. Accordion-style toilet plunger (Thanks to Gary Young in the comments for suggestion) p.s. I will add more to the list later. I love flexures and thank Derek for making a video on compliant mechanisms with Dr.Howell

"Why machines that bend are better" -Things you can't say to your wife

This is absolutely amazing! Thank you for bringing this to our attention!

I truly appreciate your channel an immense amount.

MIT: What degree do you have? Me: Watched Veritasium.

"What would happen if I put my finger there?" "You would scream in pain" "Really?" Two minutes later, screams in pain😂

This is the coolest thing I’ve seen on RU-vid and my favorite episode.

Now i watched it 1.5 y later and its still amazing, and a very proper done Video!

The clutch is actually a centrifugal clutch, exactly like the ones in the chainsaw, but the one in chainsaw have 2 or 3 springs, and those springs break all the time. So these parts would be much more efficient since they’re made out of one piece. Nice!

When the scientist says 'Even freakier than this' you RE ALLY want to see the NEXT thing

my grandfather worked for Boeing in Seattle as an engineer and was then invited to work at NASA from early 1960's until his retired, he would love this channel!

Centrifugal Clutch on my old go cart (driven wheel) had a cylindrical aluminum housing. Driving through the woods one day, caught a branch in the chain sprocket. I surmised turning the wheel in reverse could free it, but more leverage if I could spin the clutch body & sprocket to release the branch. My bare thumb & fore-finger slid off the clutch housing with a sizzle, so fast that it didn’t hurt, but the white char endured for a while (no scar remained), but lesson learned.

i messed up. I sent this to my engineering professor and now he made everyone watch this and answer questions on it.

My mind couldn't handle this. I lost it all at the clutch! I can't believe I've never heard of this before!

I agree with similar comments that this topic intrigued me like no other. It is almost like modeling an exoskeleton but in a future modernistic manner. This seems like future tech that is so cool that it has come back in time for us mere mortals to marvel over.

Love the use of compliant mechanisms! Great work guys, soon we will 3D print a glass compliant mechanism :O

Such a good vid. You don’t get a sense for how they feel from the video. That’s the only disappointment. Why no haptics, Derek??

Everyone: You need lots of parts and screws and such to make a machine work and make it stable! These people: *b e n d*

Im simply baffled - it is elegant, simple and beautiful in function and design and with extreme performance.

the mechanism at 10:44 reminds me of the way a bulova accutron works (analog to a balance spring.).there is a tuning fork which vibrates with 360Hz. this is transformed to a gear with 300 teeth and makes it turn 1,2 times per second as a time base. you can hear the watch humming with that frequency.

I used a chainsaw quite a bit and let me tell you I would've been saved a few headaches if the clutch had been a single compliant mechanism instead of the mess of metal and springs that it is. That is an amazing practical application for this.

I wish you asked the guy more interesting questions. Like whether heat generated by the action is greater than in traditional mechanical hinges (which is super important), or how "a million cycles" compares with industry standards. Because the important thing is to compare, not to just say "uuugh, it's possible!".

Great episode! Glad it showed up in my feed again

This is incredibly cool, and ALSO what a nice and charming guy Professor Howell is!

To quote JFK “I like your funny words, magic man”

Neat-O! 13 minutes wasn't long enough. I still want more. Large ones would be neat like a door, see-saw, prosthetics...

Amazing video! I love the innovations insanely smart people come up with!!

this pair of toungs is so cool, in its most compressed state it has a theoretical infinite force ratio, so it increases preassure and decreases motion the more compressed it is

4:38 "Is that a good thinking?" "Well, it's a thinking, at least."

Everyone: Flexible Thingy Me, an intellectual: _Compliant Mechanism_

In 1968 I did research to try to put a machine, a molecular beam, on a glass slide, that could then be rotated to get three way velocity specification. The microchip etching needed had not yet been invented (I tried to use asphalt and HF). But there were mechanical components too. These kind of etchable devices could serve for controls. So far as I know, the device has never been made or researched. Maybe it's time to try again using these advanced mechanisms.

As a EE in an electro mechanical design group for printers I worked closely with 2 lead MEs. One advocated for traditional rigid structures while the other wanted a compliant design. In this particular case the compliant design had more parts and complexity. Ultimately the compliant design won out. In conjunction with servo control, acceleration and deacceleration could be tuned resulting in greater positioning accuracy, higher reliability, less noise, less vibration. Overall impact on cost turned out to be minimal.

A video about 3D printable nanomachines is, somehow, focused on nuclear weapons and sponsored by home security. It's both exciting and very terrifying.

Larry was my Masters Thesis advisor--he is one of the great people I have known in my life. Compliant mechanisms are very cool. Thank you for posting this video-love your channel. For any who have not seen it, you should check out the Nova episode "The Origami Revolution"--which covers more BYU Compliant Mechanisms research--with origami.

Love seeing advancements in technology and the human mind evolving

super great usage options for low price. The problem arises when repairing and replacing, where the existing element of such a device cannot be used, even with the repair there would be a difference in performance. And different materials have different temperature properties.

"About a month ago I was giving a talk in Utah, hence the suit." First thing learned, you need a suit in Utah

1:55 -"Would you like to try?" -"I would actually like to feel the force.." *prof Larry smirks in Darth Vaderish*

Just a transmissions valve body applies pressure to incoming fluid forces, by redirecting it through chambers. Redirecting pressures across the y-axis allows micro adjustments for the forward motion

This is so cool. Compliant mechanisms really take advantage of the elastic deformation in materials.

Narrator : bending machines are better Apple's ipad 2018 : am I joke to you?

"-What if you put your finger in there and squeeze it? -You would scream in pain." _screams in pain_

Grazie: era una curiosità che avevo da parecchio. E' uno dei video più interessanti del canale.

That clutch design would be really helpful in nitro RCs.

Flexible machines are definitely something that I'm finding really fascinating to follow being developed (alongside any space-related tech...because... *space* ) ! I love the idea of rethinking old views on ideas and revisiting them in the modern world and finding they have way more applications than was previously thought! Moral of the story: *always save your work, people!* 🙌😅

Im sure it has been said...but that Titanium literally blew my mind!!!!!!!!! That was just amazing to watch in action!!

That was not long enough!!! Holy cow!! So many possibilities!

I need to see more of this stuff omg

Before I retired in 2009, I was talking with an associate in our testing lab that had worked on the safety and arming mechanisms on a particular nuke, in the conversation I asked about the high order of electronics that must be in those devices, to the contrary he said very simple mechanics and simple electric devices are used to keep reliability high.

Dr. Howell is an amazing Professor and a great guy. I was lucky enough to take his compliant mechanisms class. I'd highly recommend reading his book and learning about how to design compliant mechanisms using pseudo-rigid-body models. That's when your mind will really be blown! To think that we can take complex mechanical systems and make them compliant using a simple formula is what is really quite amazing. Great video!

This is awesome! The implications for chip tech are huge. Well actually huge for everything.

That was an AMAZING episode.