Joule Heating of a 4D-Printed Beak-Like Origami Gripper

This study explores the design, fabrication, and performance evaluation of a four-dimensional (4D)-printed soft origami gripper. The gripper's design features a flat plate with folding panels that form a bioinspired beak-like three-dimensional structure capable of gripping delicate objects of various sizes and shapes. The gripper tips are connected to slot holders designed to clamp the 4D-printed actuators. Polylactic acid (PLA) is used for the gripper and holders, while the actuator is fabricated from a conductive material, which is carbon black/PLA. The gripper and actuator are fabricated using fused deposition modeling with distinct printing parameters. Activation of the actuator and gripper is achieved through Joule heating using a direct current power supply delivering 36 m W. Two actuator configurations, with raster angles of 0°/0° and 90°/0° for passive and active layers, are tested. The actuator with a 0°/0° raster angle shows superior performance, resulting in a tips' displacement of 10.13 rnm, compared to 9.59 mm for the 90°/0° configuration. The findings demonstrate the gripper's capability to securely handle objects without altering their temperature, making it suitable for applications requiring the manipulation of temperature-sensitive items. This gripper design shows great potential to be used in biomedicine, food processing, and robotics.