TY - JOUR
T1 - Generalized Modeling of Origami Folding Joints
AU - Zhang, Hongying
AU - Feng, Huijuan
AU - Huang, Jian-Lin
AU - Paik, Jamie
N1 - Funding information: This project is sponsored by the Facebook Reality Labs USA . H. Zhang designed research; H. Zhang and H. Feng performed research; J.-L. Huang contributed experimental tools; H. Zhang analyzed data; and H. Zhang and J. Paik wrote the paper. The authors declare are no conflict of interests. The authors would thank Dr. Peter Eckert for his help in fabricating the calibration test setups.
PY - 2021/5/1
Y1 - 2021/5/1
N2 - Origami robots self-reconfigure from a quasi two-dimensional manufactured state to three-dimensional mobile robots. By folding, they excel in transforming their initial spatial configuration to expand their functionalities. However, unlike paper-based origamis, where the materials can remain homogeneous, origami robots require varying payloads and controllability of their reconfigurations. Therefore, the mechanisms to achieve automated folding adapt flat thin panels and folding hinges that are often of different materials to achieve the folding. While the fundamental working principle of an origami hinge remains simple, these multi-component, multi-material origami joints can no longer be modeled by beam theory without considering the semi-rigid connections at the material interfaces. Currently, there is no comprehensive model to analyze physical behavior of an actuated folding hinge accurately. In this work, we propose a model based on the plate theory to predict the origami folding joint: we adapt a torsional spring to capture this semi-rigid connection, predict the folding stiffness and bending of origami joints. Herein, the semi-rigid connection is calibrated by quasi-static folding tests on a series of physical origami folding joints, and the accuracy of our model is compared to finite element simulations. With this analytical model, we can accurately simulate the mechanics of physical origami folding joints.
AB - Origami robots self-reconfigure from a quasi two-dimensional manufactured state to three-dimensional mobile robots. By folding, they excel in transforming their initial spatial configuration to expand their functionalities. However, unlike paper-based origamis, where the materials can remain homogeneous, origami robots require varying payloads and controllability of their reconfigurations. Therefore, the mechanisms to achieve automated folding adapt flat thin panels and folding hinges that are often of different materials to achieve the folding. While the fundamental working principle of an origami hinge remains simple, these multi-component, multi-material origami joints can no longer be modeled by beam theory without considering the semi-rigid connections at the material interfaces. Currently, there is no comprehensive model to analyze physical behavior of an actuated folding hinge accurately. In this work, we propose a model based on the plate theory to predict the origami folding joint: we adapt a torsional spring to capture this semi-rigid connection, predict the folding stiffness and bending of origami joints. Herein, the semi-rigid connection is calibrated by quasi-static folding tests on a series of physical origami folding joints, and the accuracy of our model is compared to finite element simulations. With this analytical model, we can accurately simulate the mechanics of physical origami folding joints.
KW - Mechanics modeling
KW - Origami folding joint
KW - Physical origami
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85103329513&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.eml.2021.101213
DO - 10.1016/j.eml.2021.101213
M3 - Article
SN - 2352-4316
VL - 45
JO - Extreme Mechanics Letters
JF - Extreme Mechanics Letters
M1 - 101213
ER -