Related papers: Kirigami Actuators
The nonlinear mechanical response of soft materials and slender structures is purposefully harnessed to program functions by design in soft robotic actuators, such as sequencing, amplified response, fast energy release, etc. However,…
Nematic elastomers are programmable soft materials that display large, reversible and predictable deformation under an external stimulus such as a change in temperature or light. While much of the work in the field has focused on actuation…
Folding mechanisms are zero elastic energy motions essential to the deployment of origami, linkages, reconfigurable metamaterials and robotic structures. In this paper, we determine the fate of folding mechanisms when such structures are…
It is well recognized that the miniaturization of electromechanical devices will bring a revolution to humanity in the coming decades synonymous with the effects of miniaturizing electronic devices in those previous. An electromechanical…
Kirigami is the art of cutting paper to make it articulated and deployable, allowing for it to be shaped into complex two and three-dimensional geometries. The mechanical response of a kirigami sheet when it is pulled at its ends is enabled…
There has been a resurgence of interest in using origami principles--along with $2$D materials--to design a wide array of nanoscale devices. In this work, we take cognizance of the fact that small-scale devices are vulnerable to entropic…
Folding nanopatterned flat sheets into complex 3D structures enables the fabrication of meta-biomaterials that combine a rationally designed 3D architecture (e.g., to tune mechanical and mass transport properties) with nanoscale surface…
Origami-inspired robots are of particular interest given their potential for rapid and accessible design and fabrication of elegant designs and complex functionalities through cutting and folding of flexible 2D sheets or even strings,…
Mechanical metamaterials capable of large deformations are an emerging platform for functional devices and structures across scales. Bistable designs are particularly attractive since they endow a single object with two configurations that…
Programmable folding of elastic sheets typically relies on predefined flexible creases or active materials-enabled hinges, which lack intrinsic bistability and limit reprogrammability within a single structure. Here, we present a…
Aging populations and the rising prevalence of neurological and musculoskeletal disorders increase the demand for wearable mobility assistive devices that are effective, comfortable, and anatomically compatible. Many existing systems use…
Origami and Kirigami, the famous Japanese art forms of paper folding and cutting, have inspired the design of novel materials & structures utilizing their geometry. In this article, we explore the geometry of the lesser known popup art,…
While the grasping capability of robotic grippers has shown significant development, the ability to manipulate objects within the hand is still limited. One explanation for this limitation is the lack of controlled contact variation between…
Origami principles are used to create strong, lightweight structures with complex mechanical response. However, identifying the fundamental physical principles that determine a sheet's behavior remains a challenge. We introduce a new…
Liquid crystal elastomers contract along their director on heating and recover on cooling, offering great potential as actuators and artificial muscles. If a flat sheet is programmed with a spatially varying director pattern, it will…
The article addresses the mathematical modeling of the folding of a thin elastic sheet along a prescribed curved arc. A rigorous model reduction from a general hyperelastic material description is carried out under appropriate scaling…
Two-dimensional (2D) origami tessellations such as the Miura-ori are often generalized to build three-dimensional (3D) architected materials with sandwich or cellular structures. However, such 3D blocks are densely packed with continuity of…
Soft pneumatic actuators are widely used in soft robotics because they can produce large motions while remaining compliant enough to interact safely with objects, environments, and the human body. However, their performance is not solely…
Limbless creatures can crawl on flat surfaces by deforming their bodies and interacting with asperities on the ground, offering a biological blueprint for designing efficient limbless robots. Inspired by this natural locomotion, we present…
Graphene's exceptional mechanical properties, including its highest-known stiffness (1 TPa) and strength (100 GPa) have been exploited for various structural applications. However, graphene is also known to be quite brittle, with…