Unfolding the Next Generation of Robots: GRASP Researchers Win Award for Kinegami

Daniel Fesbach, a Ph.D. student, holds an origami robot — Before collaborating on the Kinegami project, Daniel Feshbach’s main project in the Sung Lab was a centimeter-scale origami quadruped called CurveQuad. (Credit: Justin Nachea)

Researchers in the General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania are developing an algorithm for designing functioning robots through folding.

The paper that details the design and code behind the project, Kinegami: Algorithmic Design of Compliant Kinematic Chains From Tubular Origami, was awarded an honorable mention for the 2023 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Transactions on Robotics King-Sun Fu Memorial Best Paper Award.

The project is a collaborative effort between two GRASP subgroups — the Sung Robotics Lab, which focuses on computational design for soft and origami robots, and Kod*lab, which focuses on modeling and control of bio-inspired robots — aiming to make robot design more accessible to the general public.

To learn more about Kinegami, read the full story on the GRASP Lab website.