Showcasing Printed Paper Actuator

Abstract

In this video, we showcased "Printed Paper Actuator", a low cost, reversible and electrical actuation and sensing method. We developed the actuator by printing a single layer conductive Polylactide (PLA) on a piece of copy paper via a desktop fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printer, which seems simple but indeed realizes electronic control: touch sensing, finger sliding sensing, bending angle detection and control. A software tool that assists the design, simulation and printing toolpath generation is introduced. The video showcases multiple groups of actuator primitives serve as transformation references and various applications from functional modular robots to interactive home environment.