Dr. Rui Wu

Seed-inspired minimalist microflyers are showing potential as dispersal platforms for sensor networks and seeds. Their function relies on the sheer number of low-cost flyers, inevitably raising concerns about the post-operation environmental impact. We propose a biodegradable paper glider platform fabricated through origami inkjet printing. This method can fold origami along printing patterns on different paper varieties. We created a printing pattern that allows 2D paper sheets to self-fold into a 3D flying wing glider with designable wing geometry and center of gravity (CG). The design allows stable and repeatable gliding behavior, proven in our gliding tests. It successfully achieves the dispersal of multiple gliders from a hovering drone, covering an average horizontal distance larger than the release height. We also tested the biodegradation of different paper types compatible with the printing method, showing near-complete degradation after 15 weeks in moist soil. Our study presents a novel, potentially scalable approach for fabricating environmentally friendly microflyers, offering new avenues for remote environmental sensing and automated forest restoration programs.

Despite the elegantly simple operation principle, the design of everting vine robots still presents two complexities: a tip-device required for buckle-free retraction; a pressurised base chamber to maintain inflation while allowing the everted body to be winded onto a motorised reel. We create a new type of vine robots with a unique eversion method: instead of using a single everting tube, our design comprises multiple interconnected tubes that bend to induce an overall eversion. Our design eliminates the pressurised base and the tip-device, while allowing buckle-free retraction. It also enables new designs and functionalities beyond conventional vine robots, including drone-based vine robots capable of cantilevered operations, everting grippers that grasp then transport objects into the robot body, and solid-state vine robots without the need for inflation.