Toward Mechanically Intelligent Reconfiguration via Origami Bifurcations

Chenying Liu, Liang He, Albert Williams, Perla Maiolino, Zhong You

Abstract: Reconfigurability allows robots to create new morphologies to better match their environment or task. This ability is often viewed as a form of robotic intelligence. The process of reconfiguration is typically achieved either by mechatronic modules that disassemble and reassemble themselves, or by malleable bodies, such as soft materials and linkage-like mechanisms with multiple degrees of freedom (DoFs). Despite these advances, the former approach can compromise robustness due to reconnections, while the latter often reduces controllability as the system’s DoFs proliferate. To address these limitations, we introduce a novel reconfigurable robot based on thick-panel rigid origami and exploit kinematic bifurcations, branch points in the configuration space, to realize multiple configurations without module reconnections and without increasing overall DoF. In our framing, the bifurcation mechanism constitutes the element of mechanical intelligence that enables the intelligent behavior of reconfiguration. As a proof of concept, we built a chain of interlinked rigid origami units that morphs among coil, wave-like, and triangular shapes, mimicking the morphology of a millipede. We also observe additional configurations due to compliant joint behavior relative to the ideal model. Furthermore, the robot’s dynamic performance and locomotion modes are explored. The work represents a further step toward real-world deployment of mechanically intelligent robots, illustrating the enabling role of bifurcation-guided reconfiguration.

External IDs:doi:10.1109/tmech.2025.3647559