CEE Professor Glaucio Paulino and his team's research article "Modular multi-degree-of-freedom soft origami robots with reprogrammable electrothermal actuation" has been published in PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) May 14, 2024 issue.  Link to full article:  https://www.pnas.org/toc/pnas/121/20

The Paulino Group was also honored with the cover's image!  Pictured is a caterpillar and a biomimetic soft origami robot. Inspired by the motion of caterpillars, Wu et al. fashioned a soft origami robot powered by electrothermal actuation. The lightweight modular design incorporates thermal actuators consisting of layers of liquid crystal elastomer and polyimide. Thermal extension and contraction are achieved through coordinated active and passive units, which mimic caterpillars’ forward crawling and side-to-side steering motions. According to the authors, thermal actuation may aid the design of modular soft origami robots that can grow and adapt. See the article by Wu et al. e2322625121. Image credit: Glaucio H. Paulino.