Design of a Deployable Continuum Robot Using Elastic Kirigami-Origami

Inspired by Yoshimura origami, this study presents a novel deployable modular continuum robot that achieves config- uration maintenance by utilizing active cables and passive elastic deformation of kirigami-origami. In this study, the synchronous motion of each module is improved by using slider-crank mecha- nisms. Using screw theory, the comprehensive kinematics of the proposed deployable kirigami-origami robot were analyzed, ex- plaining how elastic restoring force is generated in each module. A physical prototype was developed, and the performance of this origami-inspired continuum robot was evaluated by comparing the motionpropertiesoftheproposedrobotwiththerobotwithoutelas- tic rings and synchronism mechanisms. Besides, position accuracy, trajectory tracking ability, stiffness, and load capacity experiments were also conducted. By integrating a pneumatic soft hand at the end of the proposed robot, an object-grasping experiment was conducted to verify the feasibility.