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

Abstract

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.

A Data‐Driven Review of Soft Robotics

“…[ 489,532,533,558 ] Other recent work has demonstrated low‐cost, wood‐ and paper‐based hygroscopic actuators for use in educational settings to teach more intuitively about soft robotics and botany. [ 559 ] Another notable publication details a modular fluidic engine for soft actuators. [ 560 ]…”

“…[489,532,533,558] Other recent work has demonstrated low-cost, wood-and paper-based hygroscopic actuators for use in educational settings to teach more intuitively about soft robotics and botany. [559] Another notable publication details a modular fluidic engine for soft actuators. [560] While the fluidic medium seems to be representative of the field, the electrical medium is the most commonly utilized overall.…”

Bridging the Gap: From Biomechanics and Functional Morphology of Plants to Biomimetic Developments

“…Poppinga et al [8] show that a variety of complex plant movement principles can be demonstrated with comparably simple handcrafted compliant systems based on paper, wood, plastic foil and/or glue as construction materials. The handcrafted systems are selfactuated by shrinking processes triggered by the anisotropic hygroscopic properties of the wood or paper.…”

Chemical Gradients in Polymer-Modified Paper Sheets—Towards Single-Layer Biomimetic Soft Robots

“…In this context, paper materials offer a variety of benefits as they are fully recyclable and originate from biogenic polymeric resources. Due to its nature, paper can be used as a versatile platform for a variety of applications, such as microfluidic devices like lateral flow assays for the rapid detection of different molecules in analytes [ 7 , 8 ], devices for sensing strain, gas, and humidity [ 9 , 10 ], and self-actuated devices that are driven by changes in temperature, light, or humidity [ 11 , 12 ]. Most of these soft robotic devices are fabricated by modifying the paper with, e.g., stimuli-responsive polymers, small molecules, or inorganic particles in order to achieve the desired properties [ 13 ].…”