RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Kirigami skins make a simple soft actuator crawl
JF Science Robotics
JO Sci. Robotics
FD American Association for the Advancement of Science
SP eaar7555
DO 10.1126/scirobotics.aar7555
VO 3
IS 15
A1 Rafsanjani, Ahmad
A1 Zhang, Yuerou
A1 Liu, Bangyuan
A1 Rubinstein, Shmuel M.
A1 Bertoldi, Katia
YR 2018
UL http://robotics.sciencemag.org/content/3/15/eaar7555.abstract
AB 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.