WCSE

Development of a 3D Printed Origami Robotic Arm Inspired by Elephant Trunk

Abstract— In this research, we propose a new design and fabrication process of a soft robotic arm based on 3D printed origami with thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), and the mechanism of the robotic motion is inspired by an elephant trunk. An optimized intricate design of the 3D printed origami successfully reproduces the folding function of conventional paper-based origami. A transform motion of the 3D printed soft physique is influenced by the structural dimension and the reacting forces to form the final configuration. Stacking multiple modules of the 3D printed soft origami, a soft robotic arm is built, and the robotic arm is controlled by wires to perform movements of an elephant trunk. Our proposed soft robotic arm is lighter and more flexible with high degrees of freedom and shrinking. Additionally, the proposed soft robotic arm can perform convoluted postures and operate tasks, such as manipulation of objects.

Index Terms— 3D print, origami, module, robotic arm, wire control.

Yi-Shi Xie
School of Mechatronical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology
Yanwen Han
School of Mechatronical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology
Ki-Young Song
School of Mechatronical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology

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Cite: Yi-Shi Xie, Yanwen Han, Ki-Young Song, " Development of a 3D Printed Origami Robotic Arm Inspired by Elephant Trunk, " WCSE 2022 Spring Event: 2022 9th International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Applications, pp. 858-865, Sanya, China, April 15-18, 2022.