The leap forward composite material combines flexibility and power for complex robot programs

BUSAN, South Korea, Aug. 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The farmland of robotics has remodeled enormously on this century, with a distinct center of attention on gentle robotics. On this context, origami-inspired deployable buildings with compact depot and accomplished deployment options have received prominence in aerospace, structure, and clinical areas. Up to now, professionals have basically applied paper, slim glass, and polymers as foldable fabrics for such programs. On the other hand, fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP)—a cutting-edge additional—remainder underexplored in relation to the accuracy and reliability of the fabrication procedure.

Addressing this information hole, a group of scientists from Pusan Nationwide College, led by means of Dong Gi Seong, an assistant educator within the Section of Polymer Science and Engineering, has proposed a multi-resin shelling out procedure for FRP fabrication that mixes inflexible and versatile epoxy resins, taking into consideration the right patterning of mechanical houses inside of a monolithic construction. Their paintings used to be made to be had on-line on 30 June 2025 and has been printed in Quantity 305 of Composites Part B: Engineering magazine on 1 October 2025.

Dr. Seong highlights the primary contribution in their paintings, declaring, “Our novel and efficient technique for fabricating composite materials that enable flexible bending while maintaining strong structural performance—an advancement that has not been previously reported in the literature—overcomes the limitations of traditional single-resin systems and manual processes, enabling selective control of rigidity and flexibility within the monolithic composite.”

On this means, the researchers reach versatile bending with out compromising the structural integrity required for complex deployable buildings in numerous programs together with rigid-soft robotics programs. They display the opportunity of their option to make sturdy, high-performance FRP composites throughout the a hit fabrication of a triangulated cylindrical origami construction.

Those composites show off a flexural modulus of 6.95 GPa in inflexible divisions and nil.66 GPa in foldable divisions, with a bending radius of not up to 0.5 mm, making sure each flexibility and balance below repetitive cycles with lofty pressure tolerance. Moreover, the fabricated construction is light-weight, routinely tough, and in a position to complicated motions comparable to extension, compression, bending, twisting, and deployment, making it perfect for a large length of programs.

In line with Dr. Seong, their innovation can top to important breakthroughs in numerous futuristic areas of science and era. “Its applications include robotic parts including joints to create a Transformer-like robot, deployable parts for space applications such as deployable solar panel and solar sailing spacecraft, foldable and rollable electronics substrate or cover, architectural designs for tent, military or emergency shelter, as well as transformable wheel for next-gen vehicles.”

This analysis lays the groundwork for compactly saved buildings that may be exactly deployed and hold their mechanical sturdiness, well-known to long-term societal affects, together with however now not restricted to enhanced reliability of situation tents and wearable protecting apparatus for crisis reaction and advanced transportation potency for low Earth orbit satellite tv for pc techniques, accelerating the worldwide rollout of space-based web.

In the long run, the proposed era can pave the way in which for programs in robotics the place unified inflexible–gentle buildings can permit energy fits, humanoid joints, and adaptive electronics, in addition to information viable subject matter selection for transformable wheels and adaptive construction, enabling energy-efficient mobility techniques in comparison to heavier steel elements.

In the long run, this paintings may lend because the underpinning for next-generation applied sciences that call for each deployability and sturdiness in on a regular basis year.

Reference
Name of actual paper: Deployable fiber-reinforced polymer for complex monolithic Inflexible–Cushy robotics programs
Magazine: Composites Phase B: Engineering
DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesb.2025.112754 

About Pusan Nationwide College
Web page: https://www.pusan.ac.kr/eng/Main.do 

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Goon-Soo Kim
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SOURCE Pusan Nationwide College