Introducing Tech

Robots start flat, then pop into shape and crawl

Self-folding machines use heated hinges to transform

TRANSFORMER  A flat robot about the size of an iPad mini and made mostly of paper and plastic can fold itself into a crawling machine.

Seth Kroll/Wyss Institute

By Meghan Rosen

View the video

A new crawling robot has taken a page from origami design.

The machine’s paper-and-plastic  body can spring from flat to 3-D just like a pop-up book, researchers report in the Aug. 8 Science. And the action is automatic.

Engineers have built gizmos that can do some self-folding, but they also required hands-on help from humans. By embedding heaters in the robot’s hinges, Harvard microrobotics engineer Sam Felton and colleagues created a device that shifts shape on its own, using preprogrammed temperature changes.

A tiny onboard computer tells the heaters which hinges to warm first. The hinges are made of a polymer that contracts when heated, pulling the robot’s parts together. When the hinges cool, they lock into a folded position. Then two motors jiggle the bot’s legs, making the machine shimmy along in a slow crawl.

Self-folding devices like the robot could save room on spacecraft, or could even transform into portable shelters.

JITTER BOT  This self-folding robot uses heated hinges to self-assemble, and can pop into a folded configuration in about four minutes.

S. Felton, Science/AAAS

A version of this article appears in the September 20, 2014 issue of Science News.

Citations

S. Felton et al. A method for building self-folding machines. Science. Vol. 345, August 8, 2014, p. 644. doi: 10.1126/science.1252610.

About Meghan Rosen

Meghan Rosen is a senior writer who reports on the life sciences for Science News. She earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology with an emphasis in biotechnology from the University of California, Davis, and later graduated from the science communication program at UC Santa Cruz.

More Stories from Science News on Tech

  1. Artificial Intelligence

    How much energy does your AI prompt use? It depends

    By Celina Zhao
  2. Tech

    A new ‘eye’ may radically change how robots see

    By Kathryn Hulick
  3. Psychology

    AI can measure our cultural history. But is it accurate?

    By Sujata Gupta
  4. Computing

    There’s no cheating this random number generator

    By Celina Zhao
  5. Artificial Intelligence

    A new AI-based weather tool surpasses current forecasts

    By Kathryn Hulick
  6. Tech

    New audio tech could let you listen privately without headphones

    By Ananya Palivela
  7. Tech

    A new 3-D display lets you reach in and touch virtual objects

    By Maria Temming
  8. Artificial Intelligence

    Tech billionaires’ vision of an AI-dominated future is flawed — and dangerous

    By Ashley Yeager
Use up and down arrow keys to explore.Use right arrow key to move into the list.Use left arrow key to move back to the parent list.Use tab key to enter the current list item.Use escape to exit the menu.Use the Shift key with the Tab key to tab back to the search input.
Logo

Looks like your ad blocker is on.

×

We rely on ads to keep creating quality content for you to enjoy for free.

Please support our site by disabling your ad blocker.

Continue without supporting us

Choose your Ad Blocker

  • Adblock Plus
  • Adblock
  • Adguard
  • Ad Remover
  • Brave
  • Ghostery
  • uBlock Origin
  • uBlock
  • UltraBlock
  • Other
  1. In the extension bar, click the AdBlock Plus icon
  2. Click the large blue toggle for this website
  3. Click refresh
  1. In the extension bar, click the AdBlock icon
  2. Under "Pause on this site" click "Always"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Adguard icon
  2. Click on the large green toggle for this website
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Ad Remover icon
  2. Click "Disable on This Website"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the orange lion icon
  2. Click the toggle on the top right, shifting from "Up" to "Down"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Ghostery icon
  2. Click the "Anti-Tracking" shield so it says "Off"
  3. Click the "Ad-Blocking" stop sign so it says "Off"
  4. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the uBlock Origin icon
  2. Click on the big, blue power button
  3. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the uBlock icon
  2. Click on the big, blue power button
  3. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the UltraBlock icon
  2. Check the "Disable UltraBlock" checkbox
  1. Please disable your Ad Blocker
  2. Disable any DNS blocking tools such as AdGuardDNS or NextDNS
  3. Disable any privacy or tracking protection extensions such as Firefox Enhanced Tracking Protection or DuckDuckGo Privacy.

If the prompt is still appearing, please disable any tools or services you are using that block internet ads (e.g. DNS Servers, tracking protection or privacy extensions).