Smallest Origami Birds of the World Are Actually Programmable Memory Actuators Nanosized Robots

Researchers at Cornell University have recently created micron-sized shape memory actuators that allow atomically thin two-dimensional material to fold themselves into 3D configurations and as a demonstration, the group created what's possibly the smallest self-folding origami bird in the world. According to these nanotech scientists, it's not a prank.

According to Science Daily, if one wants to develop a fully-functional nanosized robot, it takes an incorporation of a host of capabilities from complex electric circuits and photovoltaics to antennas and sensors. However, just as essentially, for one to make a robot move, one reportedly needs to be able to bend.

All they need is a swift jolt of voltage. And the moment the material is bent, it holds the shape, even following the removal of the voltage.

The research team's paper entitled, Micrometer-sized electrically programmable shape memory actuators for low-power microrobitics came out in Science Robotics published, and was featured on the cover.

Its lead author is Qinkun Liu, a postdoctoral researcher. The project, on the other hand, is headed by physics professor Itai Cohen, and the John A. Newman Professor of Physical Science, Paul McEuen.

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Machines That Fold Fast

This ongoing joint collaboration has so far produced a multitude of nanoscale machines and components, each apparently faster, smarter, and not to mention, more elegant than its predecessor.

Cohen said they want to have robots that are microscopic although with brains on board. Thus, that means there is a need to have appendages that are driven by CMOS or complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor transistors, basically a computer chip on a robot that's "100 microns on a side."

Here, the scientists presented the vision in which one can imagine a million fabricated microscopic robots letting go of a wafer which is folding themselves into shape, crawl free, and go on with their tasks, even pulling together into more complex structures.

The hard part is creating the materials responding to the CMOS circuits, explained Cohen. And this is what the entire team of Qingkun has done with this shape memory actuator that can be driven with voltage and make it hold a bent-shaped object.

These said machines are folding themselves quickly, within 100 milliseconds. They can flatten and refold themselves a s well, thousands of times, and they only require a single volt to be powered up to life.

Creators of the Smallest Walking Robot

Qingkun's team has already gotten recognition from the Guinness World Records for its creation of the smallest walking robot. To date, they are hoping to garner another record with a new self-folding origami bird with just a 60-micron width.

At present, the scientists are working to incorporate their shape memory actuators with circuits to make walking roots that have foldable legs, and sheet-like robots that move by rolling forward.

These innovations may someday result in non-Roomba-type robots that can eliminate the bacterial infection from human tissue, micro-factories that can have manufacturing transformed, and robotic surgical tools that are 10 times tinier than the present devices, Cohen said.

This project, as shown on Cornell University's YouTube video below, was provided by the United States Combat Capabilities Development Command's Army Research Laboratory, the Cornell Center for Materials Research, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the National Science Foundation, and the Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science. Part of this particular project was conducted at the Cornell NanoScale Science and Technology Facility.