The Milli-Motein: A self-folding chain of programmable matter with a one centimeter module pitch
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Gershenfeld_The milli-motein.pdf
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Author(s)
Knaian, Ara N.
Lobovsky, Maxim B.
Oines, Asa J.
Schmidt-Neilsen, Peter
Cheung, Kenneth Chun-Wai
Gershenfeld, Neil A
Date Issued
October 2012
Journal
Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2012 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on
Publisher
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Citation
Knaian, Ara N., Kenneth C. Cheung, Maxim B. Lobovsky, Asa J. Oines, Peter Schmidt-Neilsen, and Neil A. Gershenfeld. “The Milli-Motein: A Self-Folding Chain of Programmable Matter with a One Centimeter Module Pitch.” 2012 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (October 2012).
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
The Milli-Motein (Millimeter-Scale Motorized Protein) is ca chain of programmable matter with a 1 cm pitch. It can fold itself into digitized approximations of arbitrary three-dimensional shapes. The small size of the Milli-Motein segments is enabled by the use of our new electropermanent wobble stepper motors, described in this paper, and by a highly integrated electronic and mechanical design. The chain is an interlocked series of connected motor rotors and stators, wrapped with a continuous flex circuit to provide communications, control, and power transmission capabilities. The Milli-Motein uses off-the-shelf electronic components and fasteners, and custom parts fabricated by conventional and electric discharge machining, assembled with screws, glue, and solder using tweezers under a microscope. We perform shape reconfiguration experiments using a four-segment Milli-Motein. It can switch from a straight line to a prescribed shape in 5 seconds, consuming 2.6 W power during reconfiguration. It can hold its shape indefinitely without power. During reconfiguration, a segment can lift the weight of one but not two segments as a horizontal cantilever.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Bits and Atoms
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Media Laboratory
Program in Media Arts and Sciences (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1109/IROS.2012.6385904
