  A remarkable property of nastic, shape changing plants is their complete
fusion between actuators and structure. This is achieved by combining a large
number of cells whose geometry, internal pressures and material properties are
optimized for a given set of target shapes and stiffness requirements. An
advantage of such a fusion is that cell walls are prestressed by cell pressures
which increases, decreases the overall structural stiffness, weight. Inspired
by the nastic movement of plants, Pagitz et al. 2012 Bioinspir. Biomim. 7
published a novel concept for pressure actuated cellular structures. This
article extends previous work by introducing a modular approach to adaptive
structures. An algorithm that breaks down any continuous target shapes into a
small number of standardized modules is presented. Furthermore it is shown how
cytoskeletons within each cell enhance the properties of adaptive modules. An
adaptive passenger seat and an aircrafts leading, trailing edge is used to
demonstrate the potential of a modular approach.
