Algorithmic Design of Origami Mechanisms and Robots

这个项目的目标是开发自动化设计的折叠机器人与自定义的几何形状和运动要求的算法。折叠是一种常用的可扩展的制造工艺，用于从金属或塑料片制作3D物体。目前，设计折叠机构和机器人是一个复杂的过程，甚至需要熟练的工程师进行多次设计迭代。然而，与此同时，工程师必须处理的许多约束在本质上是几何的，可以通过算法来解决。端到端设计的新算法将设计规范直接转换为3D物理可实现的机器人，这将简化设计过程，降低机器人技术的障碍，并在需要快速部署时为定制机器人提供机会，例如在紧急救援或搜索和探索未知环境时。为了开发这些算法，研究人员将解决折纸启发的工程，机器人和计算几何中的基本问题。虽然这项工作将集中在折纸启发的制造上，但最终系统的部分也将适用于其他制造技术，包括3D打印或更传统的加工。该研究将为算法设计提供正式的见解，实现完全自动化的端到端设计管道，在数小时或数天内产生有效的功能性机器人组件。这个项目的具体目标是正式设计的运动链和树木，需要可实现的轨迹。这个项目的主要观点是，这种性质的几何设计问题可以直接映射到路径规划问题，已被探索的计算几何和机器人社区。特别是，研究人员采用模块化方法，其中机器人被构造为来自数据库的链接和关节组件的组合，并且每个组件与等效路径类型相关联。通过以这种方式铸造的问题，运动设计的问题可以部分地从具体的制造细节抽象出来。研究人员将开发将运动关节规格转换为等效路径和机器人设计的算法，以及正式保证这种过程何时可能或不可能。他们将用塑料片折叠出最终的设计，以确保它们在物理上是可实现的。研究结果将通过开源软件与相关图形用户界面相结合的方式传播，以便于使用，工程会议研讨会以及费城及其周边地区的艺术和教育研讨会。该研究将产生广泛的社会影响，使最终的设计软件可供不同人群使用，包括K-12学生，教师，业余爱好者和其他非工程用户。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估。

The goal of this project is to develop algorithms for automated design of folded robots with custom geometry and motion requirements. Folding is a commonly used and scalable manufacturing process for making 3D objects from sheets of metal or plastic. Currently, designing folded mechanisms and robots is a complex process that requires even skilled engineers to go through multiple design iterations. At the same time, however, many of the constraints that engineers must deal with are geometric in nature and can be addressed algorithmically. New algorithms for end-to-end design that convert design specifications directly into 3D physically realizable robots would simplify the design process, lower barriers to robotics, and open opportunities for custom robotics on demand when rapid deployment is required, for example in emergency relief or in search and exploration of unknown environments. In order to develop these algorithms, the researchers will address fundamental questions in origami-inspired engineering, robotics, and computational geometry. Although the work will focus on origami-inspired fabrication, parts of the resulting system will also be applicable to other fabrication techniques, including 3D printing or more traditional machining. The research will provide formal insights into algorithmic design that enables fully automated end-to-end design pipelines, resulting in valid, functional, robotic components within hours or days. The specific objective of this project is to formalize the design of kinematic chains and trees that have required workspaces or achievable trajectories. The main insight underlying this project is that geometric design problems of this nature can be mapped directly onto path planning problems that have been explored by the computational geometry and robotics communities. In particular, the researchers take a modular approach, in which a robot is constructed as a combination of link and joint components from a database, and each component is associated with an equivalent path type. By casting the problem in this way, the problem of kinematic design can be partially abstracted from the specific fabrication details. The researchers will develop algorithms for converting kinematic joint specifications into equivalent paths and robot designs, as well as formal guarantees for when such a process is or is not possible. They will fold the resulting designs out of plastic sheet in order to ensure that they are physically realizable. The results will be disseminated through a combination of open-source software with an associated graphical user interface for ease of use, workshops at engineering conferences, and arts and educational workshops in and around Philadelphia. The research will have broad societal impacts by making the resulting design software accessible to a diverse population, including K-12 students, teachers, hobbyists, and other non-engineering users.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.