Into the Fold
Flat structures pop into 3-D forms, yielding miniature robots and tools
By Susan Gaidos
As a graduate student, roboticist Robert Wood became fascinated with the idea of developing a life-size, flying bee machine. Able to soar above trees or maneuver around obstacles, such a robot, Wood figured, could gather secret information for military missions or monitor hazardous environments without risking human lives.
Later, when he set up his own lab at Harvard University, Wood developed a system to cut materials into well-defined shapes and fold them into insect-sized parts. Creases and pleats gave the structures their three-dimensional forms.
Still, creating a tiny robot proved difficult. Because the structures were so small, the scientists had to use microscopes and tweezers to introduce a ridge or crimp an edge. “Assembly by folding gives you the ability to create all sorts of mechanisms and structures,” Wood says. “But the folding part was tremendously difficult and not very precise.”