Origami is the centuries-old art of folding paper into delicate shapes and now it has come to robotics – at last in concept!
A team of researchers at Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have published a study that shows that a flat, thin sheet of paper and plastic can fold and unfold to form a bug-like creature that scurries out of view. While these fold-up robots are far off, Daniela Rus, director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT says, “Today, it costs a lot in time and money to make a new robot. The question is, can we develop the tools that will allow us to automatically and rapidly generate one robot for any task? This could impact many aspects of our lives and the economy.”
While research has shown that folding robots can be built, the idea of a paper robot is a more complex, complicated task that can open doors for many applications and uses. The concept is an exciting one, however, as researchers envision the idea of sending flat sheets into space that could assemble into satellites saving space and funding on future flights as the payload is much lighter.
UMass physicist, Christian Santangelo said, “In robotics, this would be a useful thing — to be able to make structures that can basically lock or unlock at will — rigidify at will. You could imagine a floppy arm or something that then can lock into place and hold and withstand large forces,” Santangelo said. “In a certain sense, this is the first step in the path to making Transformers and robots that turn into other things.”