Researchers at Harvard and MIT Create Origami Robots

Posted on July 6, 2010

Researchers at Harvard and MIT have created self-folding sheets. These Origami robots can folding themselves into the shape of a boat or a plane. The sheet, a thin composite of rigid tiles and elastomer joints, is studded with thin foil actuators (motorized switches) and flexible electronics. The demonstration material contains twenty-five total actuators, divided into five groupings. A shape is produced by triggering the proper actuator groups in sequence. You can see the sheets in action in the video below.

The article was published in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) during the week of June 28. The lead authors are Robert Wood, associate professor of electrical engineering at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and Daniela Rus, a professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department at MIT.

"Smart sheets are Origami Robots that will make any shape on demand for their user," says Daniela Rus. "A big achievement was discovering the theoretical foundations and universality of folding and fold planning, which provide the brain and the decision making system for the smart sheet."



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