Origami robots

Abstract

Origami engineering has drawn increasing interest as a novel interdisciplinary subject since the beginning of this century with the wide application of origami structures in engineering fields. Rigid origami, an important branch of origami, has been used to design engineering structures since it has no strain in the facets during the deployment. Due to its excellent folding properties, rigid origami structures are also adopted in the design of robots, contributing to the generation of origami robots. Origami robots that combine advantages of both origami structures and robots have become a new trend for the development of origami engineering. According to different functions of origami structures in origami robots, there are three distinct types including origami skeleton robots, origami actuators and origami shell robots. This paper summarizes the research achievements together with scientific problems and technical methods in these three directions. Finally, the conclusion is drawn that the development trend of origami robots is the integration of origami skeleton robots and origami actuators.