Self-Actuated Paper and Wood Models: Low-Cost Handcrafted Biomimetic Compliant Systems for Research and Teaching

• Main Authors: Simon Poppinga, Pablo Schenck, Olga Speck, Thomas Speck, Bernd Bruchmann, Tom Masselter
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-06-01
• Series: Biomimetics
• Subjects: actuators; biomimetics; compliant systems; hygroscopic materials; plant movements
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2313-7673/6/3/42

The abstraction and implementation of plant movement principles into biomimetic compliant systems are of increasing interest for technical applications, e.g., in architecture, medicine, and soft robotics. Within the respective research and development approaches, advanced methods such as 4D printing or 3D-braiding pultrusion are typically used to generate proof-of-concept demonstrators at the laboratory or demonstrator scale. However, such techniques are generally time-consuming, complicated, and cost-intensive, which often impede the rapid realization of a sufficient number of demonstrators for testing or teaching. Therefore, we have produced comparable simple handcrafted compliant systems based on paper, wood, plastic foil, and/or glue as construction materials. A variety of complex plant movement principles have been transferred into these low-cost physical demonstrators, which are self-actuated by shrinking processes induced by the anisotropic hygroscopic properties of wood or paper. The developed systems have a high potential for fast, precise, and low-cost abstraction and transfer processes in biomimetic approaches and for the “hands-on understanding” of plant movements in applied university and school courses.