Pop-Up Catcher: A Flat-Foldable Gripper Using Multistate Passive Actuation

Origami techniques have significantly impacted robotics, expanding its capabilities in shape transformation. Pop-up transformations, inspired by pop-up books, offer intriguing applications in robotics fields, including deployable robots. However, designing origami-inspired robots for transitioning to a completely flat state poses unique challenges, particularly in multistate passive actuation. This article introduces the “pop-up catcher,” a gripper designed for multistate passive actuation that can be folded flat and actuated passively to grasp the object. To ensure its reliable state transition, we conduct “transition path planning” with the potential energy surface modulation. We demonstrate the pop-up deployment and passive capture of the target object using our flat-foldable catcher comprised of our pop-up gripper and self-locking modular Sarrus origami that can be folded into a profile less than 25 mm thick while capturing objects over 500 mm away.