Kirigami skins make a simple soft actuator crawl

Ahmad Rafsanjani, Yuerou Zhang, Bangyuan Liu, Shmuel M. Rubinstein, Katia Bertoldi*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

405 Scopus citations

Abstract

Bioinspired soft machines made of highly deformable materials are enabling a variety of innovative applications, yet their locomotion typically requires several actuators that are independently activated. We harnessed kirigami principles to significantly enhance the crawling capability of a soft actuator. We designed highly stretchable kirigami surfaces in which mechanical instabilities induce a transformation from flat sheets to 3D-textured surfaces akin to the scaled skin of snakes. First, we showed that this transformation was accompanied by a dramatic change in the frictional properties of the surfaces. Then, we demonstrated that, when wrapped around an extending soft actuator, the buckling-induced directional frictional properties of these surfaces enabled the system to efficiently crawl.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbereaar7555
JournalScience Robotics
Volume3
Issue number15
DOIs
StatePublished - 21 Feb 2018
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2018 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science.

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