A method for building self-folding machines

作者：Samuel M. Felton, Michael T. Tolley, Erik D. Demaine, Daniela Rus, Robert J. Wood · 发表于：Science · 年份：2014 · DOI：10.1126/science.1252610 · 被引用次数：970 · 研究领域：Advanced Materials and Mechanics、Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials、Modular Robots and Swarm Intelligence

Origami can turn a sheet of paper into complex three-dimensional shapes, and similar folding techniques can produce structures and mechanisms. To demonstrate the application of these techniques to the fabrication of machines, we developed a crawling robot that folds itself. The robot starts as a flat sheet with embedded electronics, and transforms autonomously into a functional machine. To accomplish this, we developed shape-memory composites that fold themselves along embedded hinges. We used these composites to recreate fundamental folded patterns, derived from computational origami, that can be extrapolated to a wide range of geometries and mechanisms. This origami-inspired robot can fold itself in 4 minutes and walk away without human intervention, demonstrating the potential both for complex self-folding machines and autonomous, self-controlled assembly.