Development of SMA-Driven Origami Actuator with Large Deformation and High Foldability

Origami has garnered significant attention in the design of soft actuators due to its unique advantages, including flexibility, foldability, light weight, and efficient space utilization. However, the potential of origami’s foldability and efficient space utilization is often overlooked in practical applications. This paper presents a shape memory alloy (SMA)-driven waterbomb origami actuator with a large deformation range and high foldability. The actuator’s deformation is driven by SMA, while the waterbomb origami structure facilitates its foldability. The influence of the material thickness of the waterbomb origami structure on actuator deformation and the effect of cut mark type on foldability are examined. By optimizing material thickness and cut mark type, the actuator achieves both a large deformation range and high foldability. The final origami structure uses a 0.1mm thickness and a double-sided cut mark design. The 0.1mm origami structure, combined with SMA, allows for a large deformation range, with a bending angle of up to 76.06°. Additionally, the double-sided cut mark structure can be compressed to nearly 1/3 of its original length when folded, effectively enabling space folding. This study provides a simple and effective design scheme for soft actuators that combines foldability and flexibility, advancing the development of soft robots.