Self-Folding Origami Robots Fold Up and Then Walk Away (VIDEO)

It sounds like something out of a science fiction movie--a robot that can fold itself up and walk away. But that's exactly what a team of engineers have created. Using little more than paper and Shrinky dinks, they've constructed a robot that assembles itself into a complex shape in four minutes before crawling away without any human intervention.

"Getting a robot to assemble itself autonomously and actually perform a function has been am ilestone we've been chasing for many years," said Rob Wood, senior author of the new paper, in a news release.

The robots are actually a culmination of a series of advances made in recent years. These advances include the development of a printed robotic inchworm and a self-folding lamp that had to be turned on by a person after it self-assembled. Yet this new robot is the first that can perform a function without human intervention once it assembles.

"Imagine a ream of dozens of robotic satellites sandwiched together so that they could be sent up to space and then assemble themselves remotely once they get there--they could take images, collect data, and more," said Sam Felton, lead author of the new paper. "Here we created a full electromechanical system that was embedded into one flat sheet."

The assembly method relies on the power of origami, which is the art of folding one sheet into complex structures. In all, the scientists tested about 40 prototypes with the help of computer design tools. Eventually, they wound up honing in on the one design that could fold itself up and walk away afterward.

The "sheet" was a composite of paper and Shrinky dinks, which is also called polysterene, and a single flexible circuit board in the center. The sheet also included hinges that were programmed to fold at specific angles. Each hinge contained embedded circuits that produced heat on command from a microcontroller. This heat triggered the robot to self-fold in a series of steps.

That said, this robot could be improved upon quite a bit given time. Yet it does represent an important step in terms of creating robots that are versatile and functional.

"The achievement by Rob and his team change the way we think about manufacturing in that the machine fabricates itself," said Don Ingber, Wyss Institute Founding Director. "The days of big, rigid robots that sit in place and carry out the same repetitive task day in and out are fading fast."

The findings are published in the journal Science.

Want to see it for yourself? Check out the video below, courtesy of Vimeo.

Self-Folding Robots from Wyss Institute on Vimeo.