FiN‐Kiri: Fabric‐Based Inflatable Kirigami Actuator for Multimodal Soft Robots

Kirigami, an art of paper cutting, offers new insight into design to enrich mechanical performance via extension, bending or buckling of thin, sheet‐like materials. In this study, we propose a type of kirigami actuator by utilizing a laser cutting and stacking fabrication approach on a fabric‐based pouch motor. This method allows for rapid prototyping of powered inflatable bending actuators through strategic cut designs, eliminating 3D manufacture of air chambers, and is smash‐tolerance and quickly healable in case of unexpected leakage. This actuator can bend over 200° and possess an end‐blocking force of up to 22 N at a pressure of 20 kPa. For an instance of robotic functions, a soft gripper is illustrated by employing a bending actuator capable of lifting objects up to 20 times its own weight. Additionally, a two‐fingered gripper is designed to pinch small and fragile objects. Moreover, we demonstrate the potential of these actuators as they are assembled into a crawling robot and a swimming robot. The proposed crawling robot demonstrates potential for inspection in confined environments, as evidenced by its successful navigation within a control box of a wind‐driven generator. Equipped with a camera, the robot receives real‐time visual feedback, thereby enabling adjustments throughout its crawling locomotion. This new soft kirigami actuator shall enrich the design strategy of soft robots by expanding kirigami from mechanical design to kinematic motion.