Imagine opening what you thought was a pop up storybook, but instead of being static, the butterflies are actually flapping their wings right before your eyes. This is actually possible!

Inspired by Artimus Robotic Company's "artificial muscles" technology that employs biomimicry, a team of designers and engineers at CU Boulders' ATLAS Institute developed <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/today/2021/07/20/origami-comes-life-new-shape-changing-materials" class="on">origami-like creations they call "Electriflow"</a>. The team employed new technologies in soft-robotics to develop such lightweight objects that can flap their wings faster than an actual butterfly. In using a different technology, they din't rely on usual robotic parts made of rigid materials. Instead, the technology utilizes electrostatic forces, which in turn pushes oil around sealed plastic pouches. Thus, these pouches may be customized in various shapes and generate various movements.

What's next given this technology? One day, we might see papers folding by themselves into various shapes or animals, and then mimicking the movements of such animals.#SelfFolding #Origami #ArtificialMuscles #SoftRobotics #butterflyImage Credit: PurnenduVideo Credit: ACM SIGCHI (Purnendu, Sasha M Novack, Eric Acome, Christoph Keplinger, Mirela Alistar, Mark D Gross, Carson Bruns, Daniel Leithinger)

#artificialmuscles