TY - JOUR
T1 - Fabrication, characterization, and heuristic trade space exploration of magnetically actuated Miura-Ori origami structures
AU - Cowan, Brett
AU - Von Lockette, Paris R.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the National Science Foundation (NSF) EFRI grant number 1240459, NSF CMMI grant number 0927326 and AFOSR. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 IOP Publishing Ltd.
PY - 2017/3/7
Y1 - 2017/3/7
N2 - The authors develop magnetically actuated Miura-Ori structures through observation, experiment, and computation using an initially heuristic strategy followed by trade space visualization and optimization. The work is novel, especially within origami engineering, in that beyond final target shape approximation, Miura-Ori structures in this work are additionally evaluated for the shape approximation while folding and for their efficient use of their embedded actuators. The structures consisted of neodymium magnets placed on the panels of silicone elastomer substrates cast in the Miura-Ori folding pattern. Initially four configurations, arrangements of magnets on the panels, were selected based on heuristic arguments that (1) maximized the amount of magnetic torque applied to the creases and (2) reduced the number of magnets needed to affect all creases in the pattern. The results of experimental and computational performance metrics were used in a weighted sum model to predict the optimum configuration, which was then fabricated and experimentally characterized for comparison to the initial prototypes. As expected, optimization of magnet placement and orientation was effective at increasing the degree of theoretical useful work. Somewhat unexpectedly, however, trade space results showed that even after optimization, the configuration with the most number of magnets was least effective, per magnet, at directing its actuation to the structure's creases. Overall, though the winning configuration experimentally outperformed its initial, non-optimal counterparts, results showed that the choice of optimum configuration was heavily dependent on the weighting factors. These results highlight both the ability of the Miura-Ori to be actuated with external magnetic stimuli, the effectiveness of a heuristic design approach that focuses on the actuation mechanism, and the need to address path-dependent metrics in assessing performance in origami folding structures.
AB - The authors develop magnetically actuated Miura-Ori structures through observation, experiment, and computation using an initially heuristic strategy followed by trade space visualization and optimization. The work is novel, especially within origami engineering, in that beyond final target shape approximation, Miura-Ori structures in this work are additionally evaluated for the shape approximation while folding and for their efficient use of their embedded actuators. The structures consisted of neodymium magnets placed on the panels of silicone elastomer substrates cast in the Miura-Ori folding pattern. Initially four configurations, arrangements of magnets on the panels, were selected based on heuristic arguments that (1) maximized the amount of magnetic torque applied to the creases and (2) reduced the number of magnets needed to affect all creases in the pattern. The results of experimental and computational performance metrics were used in a weighted sum model to predict the optimum configuration, which was then fabricated and experimentally characterized for comparison to the initial prototypes. As expected, optimization of magnet placement and orientation was effective at increasing the degree of theoretical useful work. Somewhat unexpectedly, however, trade space results showed that even after optimization, the configuration with the most number of magnets was least effective, per magnet, at directing its actuation to the structure's creases. Overall, though the winning configuration experimentally outperformed its initial, non-optimal counterparts, results showed that the choice of optimum configuration was heavily dependent on the weighting factors. These results highlight both the ability of the Miura-Ori to be actuated with external magnetic stimuli, the effectiveness of a heuristic design approach that focuses on the actuation mechanism, and the need to address path-dependent metrics in assessing performance in origami folding structures.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85016139031&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85016139031&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1088/1361-665X/aa5a9e
DO - 10.1088/1361-665X/aa5a9e
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85016139031
VL - 26
JO - Smart Materials and Structures
JF - Smart Materials and Structures
SN - 0964-1726
IS - 4
M1 - 045015
ER -