Scalable and Foldable Origami-Inspired Supernumerary Robotic Limbs for Daily Tasks

This paper proposes scalable and foldable origami-inspired supernumerary robotic limbs that incorporate a continuous robotic mechanism to support activities of daily living and presents an analysis of the fabrication process, evaluation experiments, and potential applications of the proposed devices...

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Main Authors: Mikiya Kusunoki, Linh Viet Nguyen, Hsin-Ruey Tsai, Van Anh Ho, Haoran Xie
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2024-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10496675/
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author Mikiya Kusunoki
Linh Viet Nguyen
Hsin-Ruey Tsai
Van Anh Ho
Haoran Xie
author_facet Mikiya Kusunoki
Linh Viet Nguyen
Hsin-Ruey Tsai
Van Anh Ho
Haoran Xie
author_sort Mikiya Kusunoki
collection DOAJ
description This paper proposes scalable and foldable origami-inspired supernumerary robotic limbs that incorporate a continuous robotic mechanism to support activities of daily living and presents an analysis of the fabrication process, evaluation experiments, and potential applications of the proposed devices. These origami-inspired supernumerary robotic limbs can augment the wearer’s capabilities by adjusting the scale of the devices to various applications and attaching them to parts of the body, such as the hands, wrists, arms, and torso. The device’s foldable structure can be unfolded for use and folded when not in use to prevent physical contact with the wearer and the surrounding environment so that the user’s movements are not restricted. In addition, the robotic limb is made of lightweight and soft material, so it remains safe to use and fatigue-free even after prolonged use. To verify the durability of the origami module, we conducted an experiment in which the module underwent 1,000 compressions using different materials and layer counts based on the folding pattern outlined in the manufacturing diagram. The experimental results showed that polypropylene was a suitable material for reducing fatigue due to folding, compared to polypropylene synthetic paper or plain paper. We also observed decreased stiffness with an increase in the number of layers. We believe that the proposed origami-inspired supernumerary robotic limbs can enlighten novel approaches to combining soft robotic and wearable devices.
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spelling doaj.art-a240052b472b45de95be12e728ff079d2024-04-18T23:00:31ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362024-01-0112534365344710.1109/ACCESS.2024.338748510496675Scalable and Foldable Origami-Inspired Supernumerary Robotic Limbs for Daily TasksMikiya Kusunoki0https://orcid.org/0009-0006-2084-4886Linh Viet Nguyen1https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2021-5500Hsin-Ruey Tsai2Van Anh Ho3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4519-0448Haoran Xie4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6926-3082Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Nomi, Ishikawa, JapanJapan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Nomi, Ishikawa, JapanDepartment of Computer Science, National Chengchi University, Taipei, TaiwanJapan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Nomi, Ishikawa, JapanJapan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Nomi, Ishikawa, JapanThis paper proposes scalable and foldable origami-inspired supernumerary robotic limbs that incorporate a continuous robotic mechanism to support activities of daily living and presents an analysis of the fabrication process, evaluation experiments, and potential applications of the proposed devices. These origami-inspired supernumerary robotic limbs can augment the wearer’s capabilities by adjusting the scale of the devices to various applications and attaching them to parts of the body, such as the hands, wrists, arms, and torso. The device’s foldable structure can be unfolded for use and folded when not in use to prevent physical contact with the wearer and the surrounding environment so that the user’s movements are not restricted. In addition, the robotic limb is made of lightweight and soft material, so it remains safe to use and fatigue-free even after prolonged use. To verify the durability of the origami module, we conducted an experiment in which the module underwent 1,000 compressions using different materials and layer counts based on the folding pattern outlined in the manufacturing diagram. The experimental results showed that polypropylene was a suitable material for reducing fatigue due to folding, compared to polypropylene synthetic paper or plain paper. We also observed decreased stiffness with an increase in the number of layers. We believe that the proposed origami-inspired supernumerary robotic limbs can enlighten novel approaches to combining soft robotic and wearable devices.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10496675/Human augmentationsupernumerary robotic limbsorigami-inspired robot
spellingShingle Mikiya Kusunoki
Linh Viet Nguyen
Hsin-Ruey Tsai
Van Anh Ho
Haoran Xie
Scalable and Foldable Origami-Inspired Supernumerary Robotic Limbs for Daily Tasks
IEEE Access
Human augmentation
supernumerary robotic limbs
origami-inspired robot
title Scalable and Foldable Origami-Inspired Supernumerary Robotic Limbs for Daily Tasks
title_full Scalable and Foldable Origami-Inspired Supernumerary Robotic Limbs for Daily Tasks
title_fullStr Scalable and Foldable Origami-Inspired Supernumerary Robotic Limbs for Daily Tasks
title_full_unstemmed Scalable and Foldable Origami-Inspired Supernumerary Robotic Limbs for Daily Tasks
title_short Scalable and Foldable Origami-Inspired Supernumerary Robotic Limbs for Daily Tasks
title_sort scalable and foldable origami inspired supernumerary robotic limbs for daily tasks
topic Human augmentation
supernumerary robotic limbs
origami-inspired robot
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10496675/
work_keys_str_mv AT mikiyakusunoki scalableandfoldableorigamiinspiredsupernumeraryroboticlimbsfordailytasks
AT linhvietnguyen scalableandfoldableorigamiinspiredsupernumeraryroboticlimbsfordailytasks
AT hsinrueytsai scalableandfoldableorigamiinspiredsupernumeraryroboticlimbsfordailytasks
AT vananhho scalableandfoldableorigamiinspiredsupernumeraryroboticlimbsfordailytasks
AT haoranxie scalableandfoldableorigamiinspiredsupernumeraryroboticlimbsfordailytasks