Post by Admin on Aug 8, 2014 8:32:10 GMT -9
www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2462229,00.asp
"The exciting thing here is that you create this device that has computation embedded in the flat, printed version. And when these devices lift up from the ground into the third dimension, they do it in a thoughtful way," said Daniela Rus, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at MIT, and one of the Science paper's co-authors.
Rus and her colleagues built their robot with laser-cut materials forming five layers, including a copper middle layer "etched into an intricate network of electrical leads," they said. There two layers of paper sandwiching the copper layer providing structural support. Two more layers made of shape-memory polymer form the robot's "skin," and perform the folding action that gives the robot its shape when the heat is turned on.
The robot also has a battery pack, a microprocessor, and small motors attached to the top of its flat, unfolded form. The researchers attached those electronics manually in their prototype but said future versions could use a "robotic 'pick and place' system" to allow the robot to truly assemble itself from its unfolded state.
The origami robot presented in Science has two motors to power its walking, though co-author Erik Demaine, an MIT professor of computer science and engineering, said different versions use anywhere from one to four motors.
"It's called a one-degree-of-freedom structure, in which you just need to turn one crank and the whole thing moves in the way that you want. It lets you transfer just one degree of freedom into a whole complicated motion, all through the mechanics of the structure," Demaine said.
How might such a robot be put to practical use?
Robert Wood, Harvard professor and co-founder of the Harvard Microbotics Lab and another co-author, suggested "deployment in harsh or exotic environments, like space or a battlefield," giving us "deployable structures that you could put in difficult-to-reach places."
Team member Sam Felton, also of Harvard, suggested origami robots could one day revolutionize machinery itself.
"It could do for machines what Kinko's did for home press," Felton said.
"The exciting thing here is that you create this device that has computation embedded in the flat, printed version. And when these devices lift up from the ground into the third dimension, they do it in a thoughtful way," said Daniela Rus, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at MIT, and one of the Science paper's co-authors.
Rus and her colleagues built their robot with laser-cut materials forming five layers, including a copper middle layer "etched into an intricate network of electrical leads," they said. There two layers of paper sandwiching the copper layer providing structural support. Two more layers made of shape-memory polymer form the robot's "skin," and perform the folding action that gives the robot its shape when the heat is turned on.
The robot also has a battery pack, a microprocessor, and small motors attached to the top of its flat, unfolded form. The researchers attached those electronics manually in their prototype but said future versions could use a "robotic 'pick and place' system" to allow the robot to truly assemble itself from its unfolded state.
The origami robot presented in Science has two motors to power its walking, though co-author Erik Demaine, an MIT professor of computer science and engineering, said different versions use anywhere from one to four motors.
"It's called a one-degree-of-freedom structure, in which you just need to turn one crank and the whole thing moves in the way that you want. It lets you transfer just one degree of freedom into a whole complicated motion, all through the mechanics of the structure," Demaine said.
How might such a robot be put to practical use?
Robert Wood, Harvard professor and co-founder of the Harvard Microbotics Lab and another co-author, suggested "deployment in harsh or exotic environments, like space or a battlefield," giving us "deployable structures that you could put in difficult-to-reach places."
Team member Sam Felton, also of Harvard, suggested origami robots could one day revolutionize machinery itself.
"It could do for machines what Kinko's did for home press," Felton said.