Kinematic Characterization of the Origami Spring Based on a Spherical 6R Linkage

This paper presents a kinematic characterization of the Origami Spring, which can change its shape from a flat, contracted state to a solid, extended state. Through observation using a real model, the Origami Spring was modelled as a spherical 6R linkage with 3 degrees of freedom (DOF). To obtain a kinematic model, which enables kinematic design of the Origami Spring for real applications, mobility analysis and displacement analysis have been performed. To reveal the actual behavior of the Origami Spring: it behaves like a single DOF, displacement analysis has been formulated as an optimization problem with a single input using objective functions taking into consideration collision between links. Numerical examples were presented to discuss the kinematic characteristics of the Origami Spring.