{"id":567840,"date":"2023-09-05T17:25:10","date_gmt":"2023-09-05T21:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/?p=567840"},"modified":"2023-09-05T17:27:02","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T21:27:02","slug":"usc-develops-origami-inspired-sensors-for-soft-robotics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/usc-develops-origami-inspired-sensors-for-soft-robotics\/","title":{"rendered":"USC develops origami-inspired sensors for soft robotics"},"content":{"rendered":"<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Origami-inspired sensor for soft robotics\" width=\"740\" height=\"416\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8_i8d44cv6A?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Researchers at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usc.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">University of Southern California<\/a> (USC) have developed a design for a sensor inspired by the folding patterns of origami that uses 3D electrodes to track deformation in robots.<\/p>\n<p>The project was led by Hangbo Zhao, who holds dual appointments as an assistant professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering and the Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering. Zhao wanted to find a new way to measure stretchability.<\/p>\n<p>Typically, stretchability and recovery, which are crucial metrics for predicting and controlling the motion of a robot, are measured using cameras. This process, however, doesn&#8217;t work well outside of a lab, as when robots are out in the world, operating in space, or within the human body, they can&#8217;t be surrounded by multiple cameras.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, soft robots that stretch and deform are typically made of a soft material like rubber. While these materials are good at stretching, they can also undergo irreversible changes in the material properties through repeated use.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of using cameras and soft materials, Zhao and his team leveraged their previous work in the designs and manufacturing of small-scale 3D sculptures that apply principles of origami. These methods allowed them to create a sensor that can measure a strain range up to three times higher than a typical sensor.<\/p>\n<p>To do this, the USC team built a 3D structure of electrodes that converts stretch and release to a process of folding and unfolding. This process allows the shape of the robot to change without transforming the substance of the material itself.<\/p>\n<p>As these electrodes unfold, they capture the strength of the electrical field. The team then developed a model that converts this electrical field reading into a measurement of deformation. This method allows the sensors to be used repeatedly and to give precise readings even when measuring large and dynamic deformations of soft bodies.<\/p>\n<p>This approach is best suited for responding to large deformations that existing sensors aren&#8217;t capable of identifying accurately. This is because, through folding, engineers can achieve large jumps in dimensions without causing a change in material.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe integrate the 3D origami-inspired electrodes with a soft, stretchable substrate through covalent bonding,\u201d Zhao said. \u201cThis unique combination allows us to measure a very large deformation, as much as 200 percent strain, with an ultra-low hysteresis of around 1.2 percent. There\u2019s also a very fast response, within 22 milliseconds.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>These sensors can be attached to soft bodies in motion, which includes anything from mechanical tendons found in prosthetic legs to human internal organs.<\/p>\n<p>The high-performing design of these sensors means they are capable of rapidly measuring high deformation with maximum precision. The sensors also have a sensing area of just a few square millimeters, which allowed the team to measure deformation locally. The sensors can also detect strain from different directions.<\/p>\n<p>While these sensors were designed for controlling soft robotics, they can also be suited for innovations in biomedicine.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can apply these sensors as wearable or implantable biomedical devices for healthcare monitoring,\u201d Zhao said. \u201cFor example, tracking the movement and flexibility of our skin or our joints. There\u2019s also high demand for developing implantable sensors that can continuously monitor the functional status of internal organs that undergo cyclic expansion and contraction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The USC team&#8217;s paper, \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/10.1126\/sciadv.adh9799\">High-Stretchability and Low-Hysteresis Strain Sensors Using Origami-Inspired 3D Mesostructures<\/a>,\u201d was published in the journal Science Advances.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The USC team built a 3D structure of electrodes that converts stretch and release to a process of folding and unfolding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":872,"featured_media":567841,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rbr50_analysis":"","rbr50_state":"","rbr50_country":"","rbr50_description":"","rbr50_numemps":"","rbr50_text_taxonomy_radio":"","rbr50_text_taxonomy_select":"","rbr50_url":"","rbr50_yearfounded":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1753,1401,2008,2160,2001],"tags":[2689,4111],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>USC develops origami-inspired sensors for soft robotics - The Robot Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The USC team built a 3D structure of electrodes that converts stretch and release to a process of folding and unfolding.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/usc-develops-origami-inspired-sensors-for-soft-robotics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"USC develops origami-inspired sensors for soft robotics - The Robot Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The USC team built a 3D structure of electrodes that converts stretch and release to a process of folding and unfolding.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/usc-develops-origami-inspired-sensors-for-soft-robotics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Robot Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-05T21:25:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-09-05T21:27:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/sensor-featured.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"770\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brianna Wessling\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@therobotreport\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@therobotreport\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brianna Wessling\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/usc-develops-origami-inspired-sensors-for-soft-robotics\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/usc-develops-origami-inspired-sensors-for-soft-robotics\/\",\"name\":\"USC develops origami-inspired sensors for soft robotics - The Robot Report\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/usc-develops-origami-inspired-sensors-for-soft-robotics\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/usc-develops-origami-inspired-sensors-for-soft-robotics\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/sensor-featured.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-05T21:25:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-05T21:27:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b49ac8168e6f266c4fcadb923f6e94d0\"},\"description\":\"The USC team built a 3D structure of electrodes that converts stretch and release to a process of folding and unfolding.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/usc-develops-origami-inspired-sensors-for-soft-robotics\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/usc-develops-origami-inspired-sensors-for-soft-robotics\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/usc-develops-origami-inspired-sensors-for-soft-robotics\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/sensor-featured.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/sensor-featured.jpg\",\"width\":770,\"height\":500,\"caption\":\"sensor.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/usc-develops-origami-inspired-sensors-for-soft-robotics\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"USC develops origami-inspired sensors for soft robotics\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/\",\"name\":\"The Robot Report\",\"description\":\"Robotics news, research and analysis\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b49ac8168e6f266c4fcadb923f6e94d0\",\"name\":\"Brianna Wessling\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/719a94898a1df4a988dece3c21c2050a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/719a94898a1df4a988dece3c21c2050a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Brianna Wessling\"},\"description\":\"Brianna Wessling is an Associate Editor, Robotics, WTWH Media. She joined WTWH Media in November 2021, and is a recent graduate from the University of Kansas. She can be reached at bwessling@wtwhmedia.com\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/author\/bwessling\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"USC develops origami-inspired sensors for soft robotics - The Robot Report","description":"The USC team built a 3D structure of electrodes that converts stretch and release to a process of folding and unfolding.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/usc-develops-origami-inspired-sensors-for-soft-robotics\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"USC develops origami-inspired sensors for soft robotics - The Robot Report","og_description":"The USC team built a 3D structure of electrodes that converts stretch and release to a process of folding and unfolding.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/usc-develops-origami-inspired-sensors-for-soft-robotics\/","og_site_name":"The Robot Report","article_published_time":"2023-09-05T21:25:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-09-05T21:27:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":770,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/sensor-featured.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Brianna Wessling","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@therobotreport","twitter_site":"@therobotreport","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Brianna Wessling","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/usc-develops-origami-inspired-sensors-for-soft-robotics\/","url":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/usc-develops-origami-inspired-sensors-for-soft-robotics\/","name":"USC develops origami-inspired sensors for soft robotics - The Robot Report","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/usc-develops-origami-inspired-sensors-for-soft-robotics\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/usc-develops-origami-inspired-sensors-for-soft-robotics\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/sensor-featured.jpg","datePublished":"2023-09-05T21:25:10+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-05T21:27:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b49ac8168e6f266c4fcadb923f6e94d0"},"description":"The USC team built a 3D structure of electrodes that converts stretch and release to a process of folding and unfolding.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/usc-develops-origami-inspired-sensors-for-soft-robotics\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/usc-develops-origami-inspired-sensors-for-soft-robotics\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/usc-develops-origami-inspired-sensors-for-soft-robotics\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/sensor-featured.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/sensor-featured.jpg","width":770,"height":500,"caption":"sensor."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/usc-develops-origami-inspired-sensors-for-soft-robotics\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"USC develops origami-inspired sensors for soft robotics"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/","name":"The Robot Report","description":"Robotics news, research and analysis","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b49ac8168e6f266c4fcadb923f6e94d0","name":"Brianna Wessling","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/719a94898a1df4a988dece3c21c2050a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/719a94898a1df4a988dece3c21c2050a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Brianna Wessling"},"description":"Brianna Wessling is an Associate Editor, Robotics, WTWH Media. She joined WTWH Media in November 2021, and is a recent graduate from the University of Kansas. She can be reached at bwessling@wtwhmedia.com","url":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/author\/bwessling\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567840"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/872"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=567840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/567841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=567840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=567840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=567840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}