Ori-Pixel, a Multi-DoFs Origami Pixel for Modular Reconfigurable Surfaces

Reconfigurable surfaces using robotic pixels can produce discretize 3D contours, shapes and motion patterns. In existing devices, the rendering resolution and richness of shapes and patterns are limited by the use of linear pixels that only produce single DoF (only change their extrusion/ height). Challenges in designing compact yet modular mechanisms and scaling their manufacturing have limited the development of more complex but versatile multi-DoFs pixels. Utilizing an origami approach, we have designed, prototyped and controlled the Ori-Pixel, a 3-DoFs parallel robot that can control its height, pitch and roll angles. These additional DoFs allow rendering a greater variety of shapes and motion primitives, replicating curved contours more accurately, and manipulating objects smaller than the actual pixel size. The origami folding joint design, multi-layer manufacturing and control of the Ori-Pixel are discussed in the letter. The workspace, stiffness, power consumption and communication rate of the Ori-pixel are experimentally characterized and confirmed with a prototype platform. We also report Ori-Pixels applications in two case studies: (i) an interactive flag consisting of a 5 x 5 pixel matrix that reacts to users' gestures; (ii) a set of 33 Ori-Pixel to morph the surface of a concept car.