Origami Robot: Don’t Bother, I’ll Fold Myself

Perhaps it’s a fitting tribute. The Japanese–designers of some of the world’s most ingenious robots–can now watch a traditional art form get a robotic makeover. As described in a paper published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, MIT and Harvard researchers have made self-folding origami that can mold itself into a boat or an airplane. Why? Origami is just a first step; researchers picture the “shape-shifting” robots used for everything from “smart” cups that could change from grandeto venti based on how much coffee you need to a “Swiss army knife” that will bend to its user’s will, forming a variety of tools.