Abstract

Intelligent/autonomous materials have emerged as a new and innovative concept combining information technologies and materials sciences. In this regard, intelligent/autonomous materials may constitute extensive combination of certain functions such as sensing, actuating and presenting a consistent loop of feedback-feedforward mechanisms. Based on these combinatorial characteristics, the development of intelligent/autonomous materials is important for many scientific, engineering and humanitarian applications such as autonomous robots and vehicles on unpredictable environments i.e., extra-terrestrial operations on the Moon and Mars, real-time monitoring of unreachable zones i.e., deep in caves, devastated zones in an earthquake and other disaster zones. Two different perspectives in this concept are considered starting with the classical scheme of “structureproperty- process- performance” relationship in materials science and technology. However, it is underlined that a new approach is necessary to cover the intelligence and smartness in physical entities through the new perception of “tailoring-modelling-nanostructure and multi-functionality”.