Borrowing inspiration from the paper-folding art of origami, engineers at North Carolina State University have engineered a solitary plastic cubed structure that can morph into over 1,000 configurations using only three active motors. This significant discovery could lead the way for shape-shifting artificial systems capable of taking on multiple functions, or even carrying a load like the versatile robotic structures deployed in outer space.
Jie Yin, an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, and co-corresponding author of the paper that delineated this work, aimed to find out how to achieve numerous flexible shapes using as few actuators as possible to power the transformations. "We employed a hierarchical concept observed in nature—like layered muscle fibers, but with plastic cubes—to create a transforming robot," says Yin.
To accomplish this, the researchers gathered hollow, plastic cubes made with a 3D printer and assembled 36 of them, utilizing rotating hinges. Some hinges were fixed with metal pins, while others were operated wirelessly with a motor.
Surprisingly, using only three active motors, the researchers were able to morph the cubes into over 1,000 shapes. These included tunnel and bridge-like structures, as well as multi-story architectures.
Known as transformer bots, these autonomous robots can move ahead, retreat, and go sideways without the need for feet, simply by manipulating the ways the structure's shape alters. They can also change relatively quickly from flat (fully open) to a boxlike larger cube (fully closed). Impressively, they can carry loads about three times their weight.
The development of these transformers doesn't stop there. The authors of the study plan to further improve the capabilities of these transformer bots. Yanbin Li and Antonio Di Lallo, NC State postdoctoral researchers and co-authors of the paper, aim to create a more robust structure capable of bearing larger loads.
Di Lallo further explains, "We think these can be used as deployable, configurable space robots and habitats. It's modular, so you can send it to space flat and assemble it as a shelter or a habitat, then disassemble it."
While Yanbin Li adds, "If we desire a car shape, for instance, how do we design the first structure that can transform into a car shape? We also aim to test our structures with real-world applications like space robots."
The most recent findings are set to appear in Nature Communications, with funding received from the National Science Foundation.
Disclaimer: The above article was written with the assistance of AI. The original sources can be found on ScienceDaily.
