An end-to-end approach to making self-folded 3D surface shapes by uniform heating

Byoungkwon An, Shuhei Miyashita, Michael T. Tolley, Daniel M. Aukes, Laura Meeker, Erik D. Demaine, Martin L. Demaine, Robert J. Wood, Daniela Rus

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

46 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper presents an end-to-end approach for creating 3D shapes by self-folding planar sheets activated by uniform heating. These shapes can be used as the mechanical bodies of robots. The input to this process is a 3D geometry (e.g. an OBJ file). The output is a physical object with the specified geometry. We describe an algorithm pipeline that (1) identifies the overall geometry of the input, (2) computes a crease pattern that causes the sheet to self-fold into the desired 3D geometry when activated by uniform heating, (3) automatically generates the design of a 2D sheet with the desired pattern and (4) automatically generates the design files required to fabricate the 2D structure. We demonstrate these algorithms by applying them to complex 3D shapes. We demonstrate the fabrication of a self-folding object with over 50 faces from automatically generated design files.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationProceedings - IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages1466-1473
Number of pages8
ISBN (Electronic)9781479936854, 9781479936854
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 22 2014
Externally publishedYes
Event2014 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, ICRA 2014 - Hong Kong, China
Duration: May 31 2014Jun 7 2014

Publication series

NameProceedings - IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
ISSN (Print)1050-4729

Other

Other2014 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, ICRA 2014
Country/TerritoryChina
CityHong Kong
Period5/31/146/7/14

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Software
  • Control and Systems Engineering
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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