Environmental Robotics Laboratory
8092 Zürich
The Environmental Robotics Laboratory (ERL)
The Environmental Robotics Laboratory has extensive experience in the design and manufacturing of origami mechanisms. In this innovative manufacturing process, sheets of different materials (e.g. fiberglass, Polyimide) are precisely cut with a laser, stacked and bonded to obtain a low-profile composite that can be folded into a functional three-dimensional mechanism.
Origami micromachining has several advantages over conventional manufacturing approaches.
Origami micromachining has several advantages over conventional manufacturing approaches. The use of planar laser machining allows to obtain a micrometer precision, and the top-down manufacturing approach based on folding minimizes the need for manual assembly. Thus, complex mechanisms can be developed on a scale, at a cost and with a precision unattainable by conventional manufacturing techniques. Other interesting features of origami mechanisms are their folding design and zero-backlash flexural joints. Origami mechanisms can be used to develop millimeter- and centimeter-scale robotic systems with precise force and position control.
Our main focus: Design and manufacturing of origami mechanisms and robots