Origami-Inspired Compliant Mechanisms: Test Beds and Applications for Shape Programmable Materials

Compliant mechanisms accomplish their motion from the deflection of flexible components rather than the traditional motion elements such as hinges and bearings. Origami models can be viewed as compliant mechanisms during folding because they get their motion from bending at folds and flexing panels. The Advantages of compliant mechanisms include characteristics related to efficiency such as reduced number of parts and ease of manufacture, as well as compactness, low weight, low wearing down, reduced maintenance, improved recyclability, and high accuracy motion. Joining origami and compliant mechanisms principles could allow innovative and cost-effective devices that are capable of accomplishing advanced mechanical tasks. Origami-inspired compliant mechanisms have the potential advantages of planar fabrication which means they can be fabricated from planar sheets of material and allow the use of planar fabrication methods; a flat initial state that allows compactness for volume critical applications; and monolithic composition which provides the advantages associated with compliant mechanisms. Many recent origami-inspired compliant mechanisms have been manually or passively actuated, but some applications would be improved, and many others made feasible, if they were actuated by integrated actuators. Origami-inspired compliant mechanisms have characteristics that make them an ideal test bed for shape programmable materials, such characteristics are their nature, it may be possible to make entire compliant mechanisms, or at least many of their elements, of programmable materials,they provide a cost effective way to evaluate, validate, and refine programmable materials, their basic designs like crease patterns are transferrable, enabling sharing between labs across the world, their applications offer specifications and performance goals to guide material development and successful integration with applications can lead to mechanisms that can make a positive societal, scientific, or economic impact. Specific compliant mechanisms proposed as potential test beds may include Bistable waterbomb base which is a straightforward origami base that has interesting bistable behavior, lamina emergent mechanisms that is compliant mechanisms that are fabricated in a plane but have motion that emerges out of the plane of fabrication. Also two-degree-of-freedom positioner which can be described as a monolithic compliant mechanism originally developed for space applications. In addition, deployable solar panel array that is compact when stored and a large surface area when deployed. And finally, minimally invasive surgery devices with the advantage of compactness during transport, then deployed when at the surgery site.