Development and Performance Evaluation of an Origami Paper-based Gripper

This study presents the development and performance analysis of a paper-based gripper utilizing origami techniques and cost-effective materials. The proposed gripper, designed to be lightweight, was fabricated using paper with varying thicknesses, weights, dimensions, and introducing an origami pattern and structure to build a functional gripper. We built the theoretical model employing a stiffness matrix derived from dimensional parameters, design angles, and material properties to analyze transient positions. Several experiments were conducted to validate the simulation and analytical models. The first experiment measured the maximum load capacity of the gripper before significant deformation occurred, revealing a linear relationship between 1-layer and 2-layer models with a factor of 2. The second experiment evaluated the gripper's behavior as a spring system, starting from a zero-load condition until collapse. During this process, we placed colored marked points on the gripper's front view and used image processing software to determine angular displacement as a function of time and force. These results were compared with a computational model based on the physical origami gripper, incorporating the actual force obtained from recorded video data. By repeating the experimental process multiple times, sufficient data were collected to determine the linear spring system's parameters in terms of material properties for each set of origami models. The presented workflow identifies the design α , input β and output γ parameters that most significantly influence gap distance as a function of d/L, the performance of the origami gripper and provides insights into optimizing the actuator for specific tasks.