Paper by Erik D. Demaine

Reference:

S. Felton, M. Tolley, E. Demaine, D. Rus, and R. Wood, “A method for building self-folding machines”, Science, volume 345, number 6197, August 8, 2014, pages 644–646.

BibTeX

@Article{PPR_Science2014,
  AUTHOR        = {S. Felton and M. Tolley and E. Demaine and D. Rus and R. Wood},
  TITLE         = {A method for building self-folding machines},
  JOURNAL       = {Science},
  VOLUME        = 345,
  NUMBER        = 6197,
  PAGES         = {644--646},
  MONTH         = {August 8},
  YEAR          = 2014,

  withstudent   = 1,
  comments      = {See also <A HREF="supplementary.pdf">supplementary text</A>, <A HREF="movie1.mpg">video 1</A>, and <A HREF="movie2.mpg">video 2</A>.

                  <P>This paper is also available from <A HREF="https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1252610">AAAS</A>.},
  doi           = {https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1252610},
}

Abstract:

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.

Comments:

See also supplementary text, video 1, and video 2.

This paper is also available from AAAS.

Availability:

The paper is available in PDF (739k).

See information on file formats.

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