Pop-up books inspire new production technique

Feb. 21, 2012—Inspired by children's pop-up books and origami, Harvard University researchers have developed a new manufacturing technique that soon will allow clones of robotic insects to be mass produced by the sheet, according to a recent Harvard news release.

This close-up view shows the transmission device of a pop-up microrobot. Each flat section comprises up to 18 layers of material. Photo courtesy of Pratheev Sreetharan.

Researchers devised a layering and folding process that enables the rapid fabrication of microrobots and a wide range of microelectromechanical devices. The new process enables the use of cured carbon fiber—rigid and easy to align—rather than uncured carbon fiber, which Sreetharan compared to "wet tissue paper."

"This takes what is a craft, an artisanal process, and transforms it for automated mass production," said Pratheev Sreetharan, who co-developed the technique with J. Peter Whitney. Both are doctoral candidates at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

The same mass-production technique could be used for high-power switching, optical systems, and other tightly integrated electromechanical devices that have parts on the scale of micrometers to centimeters, Harvard reported.

For more, see the video clip below or check out the Harvard news release here.