Fu Kangjia, Wu Xuesong, Yu Sunquan, Zhang Qi, Yang Yanjie, Xu Tonglin, Yao Wen, Yi Teng, Li Hua, Chen Yong, Zhang Xiang, Chen Xiaoqian
Defense Innovation Institute, Chinese Academy of Military Science, Beijing 100071, China.
Department of Engineering Mechanics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China.
Sci Adv. 2025 Aug;11(31):eadv6629. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adv6629. Epub 2025 Jul 30.
Soft robots are characterized by ultraflexible electromechanical structures that are capable of large deformations and movements. However, the challenge of generating the high output forces necessary for manipulation persists because of the low Young's moduli of soft materials, which limit their effectiveness in tasks such as carrying, grasping, and providing support. Inspired by shrimp exoskeletons, we designed an origami exoskeleton that features flexible-rigid arrangements and mechanical multistability. This design offers high stiffness in stable states while allowing for long-stroke transitions, making it suitable for integration with soft actuators to balance deformability and load-bearing capacity. With advantages such as high compressibility and rapid integration, these exoskeleton-enhanced arms have promising applications when mounted on unmanned ground and aerial vehicles, facilitating large-scale dexterous manipulation with the necessary load capacities. For existing soft arms, the proposed origami exoskeleton enhances the potential for manipulation within their original design framework.
软体机器人的特点是具有超灵活的机电结构，能够进行大变形和运动。然而，由于软材料的杨氏模量较低，限制了它们在搬运、抓取和提供支撑等任务中的有效性，因此产生操作所需的高输出力仍然是一个挑战。受虾外骨骼的启发，我们设计了一种具有柔性-刚性排列和机械多稳定性的折纸外骨骼。这种设计在稳定状态下提供高刚度，同时允许长行程转变，使其适合与软致动器集成，以平衡可变形性和承载能力。这些外骨骼增强手臂具有高压缩性和快速集成等优点，安装在无人地面和空中车辆上时具有广阔的应用前景，有助于在具备必要负载能力的情况下进行大规模灵巧操作。对于现有的软体手臂，所提出的折纸外骨骼在其原始设计框架内增强了操作潜力。
