Sensor and actuator integrated low-profile robotic Origami

The robotic origami (Robogami) is a low-profile, sheet-like robot with multi degrees-of-freedom (DoF) that embeds different functional layers. Due to its planar form, it can take advantage of precise 2D fabrication methods usually reserved for micro and nano systems. Not only can these methods reduce fabrication time and expenses, by offering a high precision, they enable us to integrate actuators, sensors and electronic components into a thin sheet. In this research, we study sensors, actuators and fabrication methods for Robogami which can reconfigure into various forms. Our main objective is to develop technologies that can be easily applied to Robogamis consisting of many active folds and DoFs. In this paper, after studying the performance of the proposed sensors and actuators in one fold, we use a design for a crawler robot consisting of four folds to assess the performance of these technologies.