Automated Fabrication of Foldable Robots Using Thick Materials

Designing complex machines such as robots often requires multiple iterations of design and prototyping. Folding has recently emerged as a method to both simplify fabrication and accelerate assembly of such machines. However, the robots so far produced by folding have often been made of thin, flexible materials that limit their size and strength. We introduce a folding-based fabrication process that uses thick materials layered with flexible film to enable folding while maintaining high stiffness in the folded structure. We use this process to fabricate multiple solid bodies, as well as two hexapods, one of which can carry up to 2.50 kg payloads. Each folded structure took less than 3 h to construct. Our results indicate that folding using thick materials can be a viable method for rapidly fabricating and prototyping larger and sturdier robots.