A Case Western Reserve University researcher has turned the origami she enjoyed as a child into a patent-pending soft robot that may one day be used on an assembly line, in surgery or even outer space.
Kiju Lee, the Nord Distinguished Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and her lab have moved from paper robots to 3-D-printed models that bend, contract, extend and twist. This novel mechanism is called TWISTER (TWISted TowEr Robot).
A video is available at case.edu/mae/robotics/videos/OrigamiBot_IEEERA-L.mp4
TWISTER was inspired by an origami twisted tower originally designed by Japanese artist Mihoko Tachibana, which uses multiple origami segments to form a tower structure. This origami design was then reinvented for various potential applications in robotics and manufacturing.
In her earlier work using paper-folded structures, Lee’s team added three small versions of the towers to one end of the larger tower and manipulated them to grasp like three opposing fingers. While picking up and moving eggs and ripe fruit, Lee’s team found that when excessive force was applied, the fingers absorbed the extra force by distributing it and deforming.
That quality, the researchers say, demonstrates the design’s potential for manipulating all kinds of fragile objects without requiring force-based sensing and interacting with humans, without safety concerns.
Recently, Lee successfully converted the TWISTER designs into 3-D printable models. This work enabled fabrication of complex origami-inspired designs via 3-D printing.
“Among the possibilities for this robot are fragile-object manipulation and direct human-robot interaction, because these robots are soft and safe,” said Lee, who will present her latest study at the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems in Vancouver today (Sept. 27).
“TWISTER is very different from rigid body robots,” she said.
Learn more: Case Western Reserve University researchers design soft, flexible origami-inspired robot
The Latest on: Origami-inspired robot
[google_news title=”” keyword=”origami-inspired robot” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]- Soft origami robot bends and twists in mazeson May 7, 2024 at 4:00 am
A soft robot that bends and twists through mazes has been developed by engineers at Princeton and North Carolina State University using origami and modern materials science.
- Robot caterpillar can twist and crawlon May 7, 2024 at 3:39 am
An origami form called a Kreslin pattern was used to build the robot caterpillar, allowing each segment to twist into a flattened disk and expand back into a cylinder. This twisting and expanding ...
- Caterpillar-like robot can split, rejoin, haul cargo, crawl through mazeson May 6, 2024 at 12:00 pm
Marking a significant advancement, a soft robot that effortlessly bends and twists around mazes was created by engineers at Princeton and North Carolina State Universities.
- Caterbot? Robatapillar? It crawls with ease through loops and bendson May 5, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Engineers created a catapillar-shaped robot that splits into segments and reassembles, hauls cargo, and crawls through twisting courses.
- Inspired by origami, researchers create self-folding grippers for droneson May 1, 2024 at 10:18 am
Researchers take inspiration from Origami to create a lightweight, yet sturdy gripper for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
- New ‘soft robot’ can crawl and move like origami foldson May 1, 2024 at 12:00 am
Engineers created a flexible, modular soft robot inspired by origami that can navigate, carry cargo, and adapt to its environment.
- New Origami-Inspired Sensors for Soft Robotics, Wearables, and Implantables (IMAGE)on August 25, 2023 at 11:00 am
New Origami-Inspired Sensors for Soft Robotics, Wearables, and Implantables New Origami-Inspired Sensors for Soft Robotics, Wearables, and Implantables ...
- 9 origami-inspired homeware buys that will add some dimension to your spaceon August 24, 2022 at 1:03 am
Embrace the art of paper folding with these origami-inspired home accessories. There’s something about origami that has always fascinated me. Often associated with Japanese culture, origami is ...
- Bringing The Art Of Origami And Kirigami To Robotics And Medical Technologyon March 8, 2022 at 4:01 pm
(2014) (PDF), a similar method to Randall et al is used, except on a much larger scale with self-assembling robots. The essential idea here is to use the concept of computational origami to create ...
- The origami-inspired mini-surgeon roboton August 8, 2020 at 12:22 pm
It gets 'superpowers' from folded exoskeletons. This video has been optimised for mobile viewing on the BBC News app. The BBC News app is available from the Apple App Store for iPhone and Google ...
via Google News and Bing News