Development of a 3D Printed Origami Robotic Arm Inspired by Elephant Trunk

In this research, we propose a new design and fabrication process of a soft robotic arm based on 3D printed origami with thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), and the mechanism of the robotic motion is inspired by an elephant trunk.An optimized intricate design of the 3D printed origami successfully reproduces the folding function of conventional paper-based origami.A transform motion of the 3D printed soft physique is influenced by the structural dimension and the reacting forces to form the final configuration.Stacking multiple modules of the 3D printed soft origami, a soft robotic arm is built, and the robotic arm is controlled by wires to perform movements of an elephant trunk.Our proposed soft robotic arm is lighter and more flexible with high degrees of freedom and shrinking.Additionally, the proposed soft robotic arm can perform convoluted postures and operate tasks, such as manipulation of objects.