Design and Fabrication of Origami Elements for use in a Folding Robot Structure (original) (raw)
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Origami-Inspired Printed Robots
IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 2015
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 we call 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.
Towards printable robotics: Origami-inspired planar fabrication of three-dimensional mechanisms
2011 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2011
This work presents a technique which allows the application of 2-D fabrication methods to build 3-D robotic systems. The ability to print robots introduces a fast and low-cost fabrication method to modern, real-world robotic applications. To this end, we employ laser-engraved origami patterns to build a new class of robotic systems for mobility and manipulation. Origami is suitable for printable robotics as it uses only a flat sheet as the base structure for building complicated functional shapes, which can be utilized as robot bodies. An arbitrarily complex folding pattern can be used to yield an array of functionalities, in the form of actuated hinges or active spring elements. For actuation, we use compact NiTi coil actuators placed on the body to move parts of the structure on-demand. We demonstrate, as a proof-of-concept case study, the end-to-end fabrication and assembly of a simple mobile robot that can undergo worm-like peristaltic locomotion.
Thesis Proposal: Robotic Origami Folding
2002
ABSTRACT I will present origami folding as an exciting challenge problem for the field of robotic manipulation. The problem is familiar, but also challenging -- an origami design can be described as a flexible closed chain with a large number of degrees of freedom. Through an exploration of origami folding, my thesis will give insight and provide a partial solution to some very hard manipulation problems.
Introducing robotic origami folding
IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2004. Proceedings. ICRA '04. 2004, 2004
Origami, the human art of paper sculpture, is a fresh challenge for the field of robotic manipulation, and provides a concrete example for many difficult and general manipulation problems. This paper presents some initial results, including the world's first origami-folding robot, definition of a simple class of origami for which we have designed a complete automatic planner, an analysis of the kinematics of more complicated folds, and some new theorems about foldability.
3D Shrinking for Rapid Fabrication of Origami-Inspired Semi-Soft Pneumatic Actuators
IEEE Access
Soft actuators are an essential component of soft robots. They are also well suited for human-friendly robots due to their intrinsic safety. The advantages of origami structures have motivated the development of origami-inspired semi-soft actuators. In this paper, a novel rapid, systematic and cost-effective fabrication method for durable origami-inspired semi-soft pneumatic actuators is presented. The proposed method employs heat-shrinkable polymers conforming to reusable molds. It is applicable to a variety of origami patterns, and it produces actuators with consistent performance. Two origami semi-soft pneumatic actuator designs (accordion and Yoshimura patterns) have been fabricated. Each actuator was fabricated in less than 10 minutes (not including the time required to create the molds and plastic components). A nonlinear finite-element model is developed to predict the actuator's folding behavior and blocked force. The results show that it can predict the blocked force with a maximum error of 5.7% relative to experimental measurements. This model can be used to improve the design of future actuators. Experimental results for isometric, isobaric, isotonic and cyclic fatigue tests for the accordion pattern actuator are included and discussed. The actuator prototype has a maximum stroke of 40 mm (or 36% of its effective length) and a maximum blocked force of 124 N at a vacuum pressure of −80 kPa. It also showed no decrease in performance and no leakage after 1000 cycles with a payload of 0.9 kg, demonstrating its durability compared to previous origami-inspired semi-soft pneumatic actuators. Finally, it has a high force-to-weight ratio as it can lift a load more than 118 times its own weight. Its performance demonstrates that powerful, lightweight and durable actuators can be easily produced by the proposed fabrication method. INDEX TERMS Origami pneumatic actuators, soft robots, pneumatic actuators, artificial muscles.
Origami engineering: Creating dynamic functional materials through folded structures
Hybrid Advances, 2023
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2012
The Application of Origami to the Design of Lamina Emergent Mechanisms (LEMs) with Extensions to Collapsible, Compliant and Flat-Folding Mechanisms Holly C. Greenberg Department of Mechanical Engineering, BYU Master of Science Lamina emergent mechanisms (LEMs) are a subset of compliant mechanisms which are fabricated from planar materials; use compliance, or flexibility of the material, to transfer energy; and have motion that emerges out of the fabrication plane. LEMs provide potential design advantages by reducing the number of parts, reducing cost, reducing weight, improving recyclability, increasing precision, and eliminating assembly, to name a few. However, there are inherent design and modeling challenges including complexities in large, non-linear deflections, singularities that exist when leaving the planar state, and the coupling of material properties and geometry in predicting mechanism behavior. This thesis examines the planar and spherical LEMs and their relation to or...
An End-to-End Approach to Self-Folding Origami Structures
IEEE Transactions on Robotics
This paper presents an end-to-end approach to automate the design and fabrication process for self-folding origami structures. Self-folding origami structures by uniform heat are robotic sheets composed of rigid tiles and joint actuators. When they are exposed to heat, each joint folds into a preprogrammed angle. Those folding motions transform themselves into a structure, which can be used as body of 3D origami robots, including walkers, analog circuits, rotational actuators, and micro cell grippers. Given a 3D model, the design algorithm automatically generates a layout printing design of the sheet form of the structure. The geometric information, such as the fold angles and the folding sequences, is embedded in the sheet design. When the sheet is printed and baked in an oven, the sheet self-folds into the given 3D model. We discuss (1) the design algorithm generating multiple-step self-folding sheet designs, (2) verification of the algorithm running in O(n 2) time, where n is the numbers of the vertices, (3) implementation of the algorithm, and (4) experimental results, several self-folded 3D structures with up to 55 faces and two sequential folding steps.
2019
This work provides an overview of two developments in origami-based mechanism design. Past methods of predicting mechanical advantage in compliant mechanisms were adapted to predict the mechanical advantage in multi-input origami-based mechanisms. The model was verified against experimental testing of an origami-based mechanism. A method for creating selfdeploying flat-foldable thick origami was proposed with details to guide the design of a single vertex. This method was demonstrated in physical prototypes. The mechanical advantage model and Regionally-Sandwiching of Compliant Sheets (ReCS) technique proposed in this work should serve to make origami-based mechanisms more capable of aiding NASA in their objectives. INTRODUCTION Origami-based mechanisms can be classified as a branch of compliant mechanisms that offer attractive solutions to traditional engineering challenges. The capability of origami-based mechanisms to create unique motions and configurations makes them ideal cand...
Mechanical Engineering Journal, 2016
Origami is a traditional Japanese craft that is based on the folding of the designed structure and can be widely used by industry. Origami folding is not a difficult task for human hands; however, folding by robot hands is such a challenge. In this paper, we suggest a novel approach for designing the origami-performing robotic systems. The main idea of the proposed method is to simulate the forming crease lines in origami models and folding behavior of a sheet of paper by robot end-effectors. The simulation approach becomes the main option in the real-world related with a robotic activity. Our investigation results show that many design parameters of a robot such as geometrical and topological, shape and configuration of the robotic arms, type of forces and their distributions, and others can be defined by the simulation of the folding origami structures. It means that the results of the simulation can be used as a basis of the final robot design without a series of experimental tests. Problems of the numerical simulation, including paper material structure, simulation origami model, the distribution and values of the applying forces, and others are considered carefully. The results of the design process of the robotic system based on the simulation of origami crease forming confirm our idea to use simulation approach with LS-DYNA solver to build the origami-performing robot for complex origami structures. The origami model "Star" was taken as an example to demonstrate the method for the different types of the creases in origami.