Some time ago we pointed out the innovative proposal for the construction of lunar habitats inspired by the concept of origami for the future NASA Artemis mission.
Now again the principles of origami serve as a reference, but this time as an element to enhance the capabilities of small robots of no more than one centimeter in aspects such as speed, agility and control.
In this sense, researchers from the University of Michigan were able to verify how the rules that govern origami for the execution of figures on paper were conducive to optimizing the capabilities of these machines in order to expand their range of use in areas such as medicine and medicine. infrastructure detection.
In reference to this, the assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Michigan, Evgueni Filipov expressed We have found a new way to design, build and activate micro-robots [] We were the first to bring advanced origami folding capabilities to an integrated microbot system
Even now, most microbots have limited movement, which makes it difficult for them to perform useful tasks. To solve this, the team set about creating microbots with the ability to fold at angles greater than 90 to allow them to make more complex shapes.
Thanks to this implementation, the range of movement is completed by the microbot on an average of 80 times per second, I feel this a much faster rate compared to that executed by other microbot’s.
It should be noted that these microbots have been endowed with a layer of gold and a layer of polymer, both fulfilling the function of actuators, thus avoiding the intervention of an external stimulus to activate their operation.
On the other hand, although the actions of the microbots are controlled by a cable, it is planned to change this by a battery and a microcontroller, which will be used to supply electrical current to the systems.
If you want more information about this study, you can do so by entering the source in English HERE
