Origami-inspired printable tele-micromanipulation system

Abstract

Origami-engineering is an emerging design and manufacturing technology for creating 3-D robotic systems using 2-D designs. We present a new origami-inspired tele-micromanipulation system manufactured by printing and folding. The developed micromanipulation system consists of two miniature machines, wearable user interface devices and a multi degree-of-freedom slave manipulator. A simple hydraulic system using syringes allows motion reduction and force transmission between the master and the slave. This paper introduces how to design and rapidly prototype these devices, and, finally, demonstrate different micromanipulation abilities such as 2-D trajectory following, pick-and-place, and 3-D micro-assembly. Highlighting rapid design and fabrication of a low-cost high performance origami-based tele-micromanipulation system, this paper proposes new applications of origami-inspired printable robots to wearable robots, micro-robotics and tele-operation.