Even beginners "Robogami" can easily make robot shape and movement like a paper craft

By outputting patterns with 3D printers and assembling like a paper craft, we can create a robot at low cost and in a short time "Robogami"Has been released. Robogami can be designed simply by selecting "movement" or "shape" using software, it can be made into a shape specialized for speed and stability, even for people without specialized knowledge, to use the robot according to the application It can be designed and manufactured.

Interactive robogami: An end-to-end system for design of robots with ground locomotionThe International Journal of Robotics Research - Adriana Schulz, Cynthia Sung, Andrew Spielberg, Wei Zhao, Robin Cheng, Eitan Grinspun, Daniela Rus, Wojciech Matusik, 2017
http://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/Ik4gSdxmRKheYKgR4kVd/full

Or Robogami that of what the robot will know well if you look at the following movie.

Robogami: 3D Printing Foldable Robots - YouTube


This is a robot made with "Robogami". The left and right feet alternately rotate, showing a unique movement.


Cynthia Sung, Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, a woman in the image, who developed Robogami. Robogami was designed as a robot that can be customized and created easily even for people without experience in engineering design.


Robogami's point is two, one is "can easily make it".


As you assemble a paper craft, shape is made by folding the material.


And the other is to be able to check the movement of the robot on the computer.


Robogami outputs materials before assembly with a 3D printer. It seems that the manufacturing method by 3D printer was chosen because it can output intricate and complicated parts.


By assembling 2D parts output by 3D printer ... ...


It is possible to complete a robot that is lightweight and has a strong structure in a short time.


"Many challenges exist in robot design," Adriana Schulz, a doctoral student at MIT, says. In particular, when designing an assembly robot for casual users, it is necessary to simultaneously satisfy all aspects of robot such as "shape design" and "software controlled movement".


In this regard, Robogami software completes the robot design work simply by combining the parts in the catalog. In addition, you can specify the movement of the robot in the same way by selecting from the catalog.


By the above method, robots of various design and movement are completed.


Of course, all the robots made actually operate.


In addition, Robogami's software will guide users to improve both "movement" and "design" of robots.


Raise the speed of the robot by moving the foot one by one on the left and right ......


You can design all the feet at the same time to make it more stable shape.


In addition, we are trying to reduce cost by doing assembly work on the user side.


Because various robot parts are registered in the database, combining these allows you to create your own robot.


Ultimately, it seems that the goal is to make it possible for users to touch the system side so that they can specify the movement according to the task of the robot.


Once this can be done, the future will be realized where users can easily create robots themselves and leave tasks to them. Robogami's goal is to become a "robot in the daily routine of people".