Pseudo-rigid-body modeling of a single vertex compliant-facet origami mechanism

Recently, there has been an increased interest in origami art from a mechanism design perspective. The deployable nature and the planar fabrication method inherent to origami provide potential for space and cost-efficient mechanisms. In this paper, a novel type of origami mechanisms is proposed in which the compliance of the facets is used to incorporate the spring behavior: compliant facet origami mechanisms (COFOMs). A simple model that computes the moment characteristic of a single vertex COFOM has been proposed, using a semispatial version of the pseudo-rigid-body (PRB) theory to model bending of the facets. The PRB model has been evaluated numerically and experimentally, showing good performance. The PRB model is a potential starting point for a design tool which would provide an intuitive way of designing this type of mechanisms including their spring behavior, with very low computational cost.