Design of paper mechatronics: Towards a fully printed robot

Hiroki Shigemune, Shingo Maeda, Yusuke Hara, Shuji Hashimoto

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

16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Recently, there has been strong interest in printed robots and paper electronics. Printing is an adequate manufacturing method for the mass production; robots manufactured by printing can be low cost, rapidly creatable and easy to design. Paper is one of smart materials with high water absorbency and strength; it is easily mass-produced at low cost. Many inexpensive and flexible devices were created in paper electronics. Therefore, we propose paper mechatronics that merges printed robots and paper electronics. We used a commercial ink jet printer with water-based ink for self-folding of paper; the paper was folded automatically along the printed line to make the robot body. The paper robot was equipped with a printed electrothermal actuator that consists of epoxy resin covered by conductive ink. The epoxy resin was heated by Joule heat of the conductive ink under a driving voltage of 8 V. The self-folding of experimental paper robot took 15 minutes to construct the body and the robot demonstrated a locomotion at 6.5 mm per step.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationIROS 2014 Conference Digest - IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages536-541
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)9781479969340
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2014 Oct 31
Event2014 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IROS 2014 - Chicago, United States
Duration: 2014 Sept 142014 Sept 18

Publication series

NameIEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
ISSN (Print)2153-0858
ISSN (Electronic)2153-0866

Conference

Conference2014 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IROS 2014
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityChicago
Period14/9/1414/9/18

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Control and Systems Engineering
  • Software
  • Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
  • Computer Science Applications

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