Fabrication of origami wheel using pattern embedded fabric and its application to a deformable mobile robot

Abstract

The unique characteristics of origami to realize 3-D shape from 2-D patterns have been fascinating many researchers and engineers. This paper presents a fabrication of origami patterned fabric wheels that can deform and change the radius of the wheels. PVC segments are enclosed in the fabrics to build a tough and foldable structure. A special cable driven mechanism was designed to allow the wheels to deform while rotating. A mobile robot with two origami wheels has been built and tested to show that it can deform its wheels to overcome various obstacles.