We have designed and built an
origami robot that gets up and
goes. In other words, the robot
forms itself, on the spot,
accomplishes tasks and then it
disappears by degradation.
The robot self-assembles using a
folding process that is triggered
by heating. After this the robot
can run along designated
trajectories, it can carry
objects, it can clear obstacles
and it can swim. It can execute
a variety of tasks and when
these tasks are done the robot
can recycle itself by dissolving
its body into a liquid.
This is the first robotic device
that completes a full life-cycle
from birth to its death.
Typical robots consists of
electronic devices. Our robot
is made based on controllable
materials; this is the biggest
difference. The robots body has
embedded in it a small magnet.
This allows us to control the
robot by programming a magnetic
field. In other words, the robot
has external, programmable
actuation. Currently the robot
is controlled remotely by a
person. We'd like to advance
this robot and make it more
intelligent. Such that it can
make decisions by itself.
Origami inspired robot designs
have the potential to be faster,
cheaper, and easier to fabricate
than robots created using
traditional manufacturing
processes.
It is easier for such a system
to be used closer to humans such
as in the human body. For example
you could regard this robot as a
controllable drug capsule or a
surgical tool which can be
removed after its used in the
body. You can imagine ingesting
these robots and then controlling
where they travel in the body.
Once they arrive at the correct
location they could form
themselves into active instruments
that can actually manipulate and
help through the healing
processes. For the short-term
we see these robots as
potentially extremely useful
in inspection tasks because they
are small and they can travel
through very intricate and small
narrow pipelines that are
difficult to inspect with today's
technology.
