Conclusion and outlook

The use of origami in robot design is still a very recent development. There are few industrial applications, even if this approach fits perfectly into the design of future robots that interact better with humans and their often complex and changing environments. Origami structures in robotics can be used at all scales. Dynamic simulation tools are already in place, but still need to be improved to take account of materials and possible deformations leading to bistability phenomena. The desire to create reconfigurable robots, changing shape according to a desired mode of locomotion, for example, places origami at the heart of robot design. The ability to create kinematic links by folding single or multi-material structures is an undeniable advantage over more conventional mechanical links, based on axes for example. The possible applications and contexts are numerous: biomedical devices,...