Origami-Inspired Printed Robots

Robot manufacturing is currently highly specialized, time consuming, and expensive, limiting accessibility and customization. Existing rapid prototyping techniques (e.g., 3-D printing) can achieve complex geometries and are becoming increasingly accessible; however, they are limited to one or two materials and cannot seamlessly integrate active components. We propose an alternative approach called printable robots that takes advantage of available planar fabrication methods to create integrated electromechanical laminates that are subsequently folded into functional 3-D machines employing origami-inspired techniques. We designed, fabricated, and tested prototype origami robots to address the canonical robotics challenges of mobility and manipulation, and subsequently combined these designs to generate a new, multifunctional machine. The speed of the design and manufacturing process as well as the ease of composing designs create a new paradigm in robotic development, which has the promise to democratize access to customized robots for industrial, home, and educational use.National Science Foundation (U.S.). Expeditions Program (Grant CCF-1138967

Sticky Actuator: Free-Form Planar Actuators for Animated Objects

We propose soft planar actuators enhanced by free-form fabrication that are suitable for making everyday objects move. The actuator consists of one or more inflatable pouches with an adhesive back. We have developed a machine for the fabrication of free-from pouches; squares, circles and ribbons are all possible. The deformation of the pouches can provide linear, rotational, and more complicated motion corresponding to the pouch's geometry. We also provide a both manual and programmable control system. In a user study, we organized a hands-on workshop of actuated origami for children. The results show that the combination of the actuator and classic materials can enhance rapid prototyping of animated objects.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant 1240383)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant 1138967

The Flying Monkey: a Mesoscale Robot that can Run, Fly, and Grasp

The agility and ease of control make a quadrotor aircraft an attractive platform for studying swarm behavior, modeling, and control. The energetics of sustained flight for small aircraft, however, limit typical applications to only a few minutes. Adding payloads – and the mechanisms used to manipulate them – reduces this flight time even further. In this paper we present the flying monkey, a novel robot platform having three main capabilities: walking, grasping, and flight. This new robotic platform merges one of the world’s smallest quadrotor aircraft with a lightweight, single-degree-of-freedom walking mechanism and an SMA-actuated gripper to enable all three functions in a 30 g package. The main goal and key contribution of this paper is to design and prototype the flying monkey that has increased mission life and capabilities through the combination of the functionalities of legged and aerial roots.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (IIS-1138847)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (EFRI-124038)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (CCF-1138967)United States. Army Research Laboratory (W911NF-08-2-0004)Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineerin

Design and Fabrication of Origami Elements for use in a Folding Robot Structure

The aim of the research is to investigate the methodology of the design and fabrication of folding robots that depend on the origami structures. The use of origami structures as a foundation to build reconfigurable and morphing robots that could assist in search and rescue (SAR) tasks are investigated. The design of the origami folding structures divided into three stages: consideration of the geometry of the origami structure, the hinge design, and the actuation system. The result of investigating three origami structures shows the ability to use the unit cell of the origami ball structure as a self-folding element. Furthermore, the novel type of origami structure for manipulation was created according to this result. This novel structure was designed to be a soft manipulation robot arm. Two approaches are used to design and fabricate flexure hinge. The first is by using a 3D printed multi-material technique. By this technique, the hinge printed using soft and solid material at the same time, which is Tango plus flx930 for soft material and Vero for solid material. The soft material act as a flexure hinge. Therefore, three tests were operated for it to calculate the tensile force, fatigue limit, and the required bend force. The second approach is by using acrylic and Kapton materials. Two types of actuation systems were studied: the external actuation system and embedded actuation system. The external actuation system was used for the Origami structure for manipulation, while the embedded actuation system was used for the self-folding structure. The shape memory alloy wires in torsion (TSW) and bending (BSW) was used in an embedded actuation system. A unit cell of origami ball was fabricated as a self-folding element by using three approaches: manually, acrylic, and Kapton and 3D printing. It is actuated by using shape memory alloy wire. Furthermore, an origami structure for manipulation was fabricated and actuated using an external actuation system. This novel type of origami structure provided an excellent bend motion ability

Robotic Origamis: Self-morphing Modular Robot

Programmable matter is a material that produces distinctive shapes or patterns according to a given command. Often they are composed of interconnected modular elements that are able to make or break the connections or alter relative orientation. We present programmable matter based on robotic origami that demonstrates the capability to fold into 3D shapes starting from a nominally 2D sheet. This concept requires high torque density actuators, flexible electronics and an integrated substrate. We report on unique robot fabrication techniques that incorporate torsional shape memory actuators and stretchable electronics

Solar-powered shape-changing origami microfliers

Using wind to disperse microfliers that fall like seeds and leaves can help automate large-scale sensor deployments. Here, we present battery-free microfliers that can change shape in mid-air to vary their dispersal distance. We design origami microfliers using bi-stable leaf-out structures and uncover an important property: a simple change in the shape of these origami structures causes two dramatically different falling behaviors. When unfolded and flat, the microfliers exhibit a tumbling behavior that increases lateral displacement in the wind. When folded inward, their orientation is stabilized, resulting in a downward descent that is less influenced by wind. To electronically transition between these two shapes, we designed a low-power electromagnetic actuator that produces peak forces of up to 200 millinewtons within 25 milliseconds while powered by solar cells. We fabricated a circuit directly on the folded origami structure that includes a programmable microcontroller, Bluetooth radio, solar power harvesting circuit, a pressure sensor to estimate altitude and a temperature sensor. Outdoor evaluations show that our 414 milligram origami microfliers are able to electronically change their shape mid-air, travel up to 98 meters in a light breeze, and wirelessly transmit data via Bluetooth up to 60 meters away, using only power collected from the sun.Comment: This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of the AAAS for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Science Robotics on September 13, 2023. DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.adg427

Challenges and Status on Design and Computation for Emerging Additive Manufacturing Technologies

The revolution of additive manufacturing (AM) has led to many opportunities in fabricating complex and novel products. The increase of printable materials and the emergence of novel fabrication processes continuously expand the possibility of engineering systems in which product components are no longer limited to be single material, single scale, or single function. In fact, a paradigm shift is taking place in industry from geometry-centered usage to supporting functional demands. Consequently, engineers are expected to resolve a wide range of complex and difficult problems related to functional design. Although a higher degree of design freedom beyond geometry has been enabled by AM, there are only very few computational design approaches in this new AM-enabled domain to design objects with tailored properties and functions. The objectives of this review paper are to provide an overview of recent additive manufacturing developments and current computer-aided design methodologies that can be applied to multimaterial, multiscale, multiform, and multifunctional AM technologies. The difficulties encountered in the computational design approaches are summarized and the future development needs are emphasized. In the paper, some present applications and future trends related to additive manufacturing technologies are also discussed

Development and Integration of Inkjet-Printed Strain Sensors for Angle Measurement of an Origami-Based Delta Mechanism

An origami-based parallel mechanism is an excellent solution for various applications where small-scale, low profile and foldability are needed. These mechanisms are composed of rigid and flexible layers designed according to layer-by-layer fabrication methods. In addition, it becomes important to design functional layers that provide user feedback. Here, the design and fabrication of an origami-based 3 Degree-of-Freedom (DoF) Delta mechanism, which has the same traditional kinematics as a Delta mechanism, are presented. A sensor layer was designed composed of 3 strain gauges to measure the angular position of the actuated arm of the mechanism. The strain-gauge patterns were printed on a special Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) using Silver nanoparticle ink with a commercial desktop printer. The integration of these sensors has been studied by placing them in different locations between rigid layers. The sensors' outputs were presented when subjected to step and sinusoidal inputs of the actuated arm. The experiment results show that the developed sensor layer can track the angular position changes of the actuated lower arm, which is a promising result to be used in a control loop in the feature

Puffer: Pop-Up Flat Folding Explorer Robot

A repeatably reconfigurable robot, comprising at least two printed circuit board (PCB) rigid sections, at least one PCB flexible section coupled to the at least two PCB rigid sections, at least one wheel, hybrid wheel propeller, wheel and propeller, or hybrid wheel screw propeller rotatably coupled to at least one of the at least two PCB rigid sections and at least one actuator coupled to the at least two PCB rigid sections, wherein the at least one actuator folds and unfolds the repeatably reconfigurable robot