WEBVTT

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As a roboticist,
I get asked a lot of questions.

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"When we will they start
serving me breakfast?"

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So I thought the future of robotics
would be looking more like us.

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I thought they would look like me,

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so that I built eyes
that would simulate my eyes,

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I built fingers that are dextrous enough
to serve me baseballs.

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Classical robots like this are built

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and can function based on
the fixed number of joints and actuators,

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and this means their
functionality and shape

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are already fixed at the moment
of their conception.

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So even though this arm
has really nice throw,

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to even hit the tripod at the end,

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it's not meant for cooking you
breakfast per se.

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It's not really suited for scrambled eggs.

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So this was when I was hit
by a new vision of future robotics:

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the transformers.

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They drive, they run, they fly,

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all depending on the ever-changing
new environment and task at hand.

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To make this a reality,

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you really have to rethink
how robots are designed.

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So imagine a robotic module
in a polygon shape

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and using that simple polygon shape
to reconstruct multiple different forms

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to create a new form of robot
for different tasks.

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In CG, computer graphics,
it's not only news,

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it's been done for a while, and that's how
most of the movies are made.

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But if you're trying to make a robot
that's physically moving,

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it's a completely new story.

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It's a completely new paradigm.

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But you've all done this.

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Who hasn't made a paper airplane,
paper boat, paper crane.

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Origami is a versatile
platform for designers.

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From a single sheet of paper,
you can make multiple shapes,

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and if you don't like it,
you unfold and fold back again.

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Any 3D form can be made
from 2D surfaces by folding,

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and this is proven mathematically.

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And imagine if you were to have
an intelligent sheet

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that can self-fold into any form it wants

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anytime.

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And that's what I've been working on,

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and I call this robotic origami

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"robogami."

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This is our first robogami transformation

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that was made by me about 10 years ago.

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From a flat-sheeted robot,

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it turns into a pyramid
and back into a flat sheet

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and into a space shuttle.

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Quite cute.

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Ten years later, with my group
of ninja origami robotic researchers,

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and there about 22 of them right now,

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we have a new generation of robogamis,

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and they're a little more effective
and we do more than that.

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So the new generation of robogamis
actually serve a purpose.

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For example, this one actually navigates
through different terrains autonomously.

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So when it's a dry
and flat land, it crawls.

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And if it meets some rough terrain,
it starts rolling.

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It does this, it's the same robot,

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but depending on which terrain it meets,

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it activates a different sequence
of actuators that's on board.

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And once it meets and obstacle,
it jumps over it.

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It does this by storing energy
in each of its legs

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and releasing it and catapulting
like a slingshot.

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And it even does gymastics.

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Yay.

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So I just showed you
what a single robogami can do.

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Imagine what they can do as a group.

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They can join forces to tackle
more complex tasks.

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Each module either active or passive,

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we can assemble them
to create different shapes.

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Not only that, by controlling
the folding joints, we are able

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to create and attack different tasks.

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The form is making new task space.

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And this time, what is most
important is the assembly.

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They need to autonomously
find each other in a different space,

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attach and detach depending on
the environment and task.

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And we can do this now.

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So what's next?

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Our imagination.

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So this is a simulation of what
you can achieve with this type of module.

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So we decided that we were going
to have a four-legged crawler

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turning into a little dog
and making small gaits.

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With the same module, we can actually
make it do something else:

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a manipulator, a typical
classic robot task.

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So with a manipulator,
it can pick an object.

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Of course, you can add more modules
to make the manipulator legs longer,

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to attack or pick up
objects that are bigger or smaller,

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or even have a third arm.

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For robogamis, there's no
one fix shape nor task.

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They can transform into anything
anywhere anytime.

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So how do you make them?

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The biggest technical challenge
of robogami is keeping them super-thin,

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flexible, but still remaining functional.

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They're composed of multiple layers
of circuits, motors,

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micro-controllers and sensors,
all in the single body,

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and when you control
individual folding joints,

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you'll be able to achieve
soft motions like that

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upon your command.

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Instead of being a single robot that is
specifically made for a single task,

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robogamis are optimized
to do multi-tasks,

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and this is quite important

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for the difficult and unique
environments on the Earth

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as well as in space.

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Space is a perfect
environment for robogamis.

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You cannot afford to have
one robot for one task.

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Who knows how many tasks
you will encounter in space?

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What you want is a single robotic platform
that can transform to do multi-tasks.

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What we want is a deck
of thin robogami modules

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that can transform to do multiples
of performing tasks.

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So here, and don't take my word for it,

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because it's the European Space Agency
and Swiss Space Center

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are sponsoring this exact concept.

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So here you see a couple of images
of reconfiguration of robogamis,

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exploring the foreign land
aboverground, on the surface,

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as well as digging into the surface.

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It's not just exploration.

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For astronauts, they need additional help,

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because you cannot afford
to bring interns up there either.

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They have to do every tedious task.

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It may be simple, but super-interactive.

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So you need robots
to facilitate their experiments,

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assisting them with the communications,

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and just docking onto surfaces to be
their third arm holding different tools.

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But how will they be able
to control robogamis, for example,

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outside the space station?

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In this case, I show a robogami
that is holding a space debris.

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You can work with your vision
so that you can control them,

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but what would be better
is having the sensation of touch

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directly transported onto
the hands of the astronauts.

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And what you need is a haptic device,

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a haptic interface that recreates
the sensation of touch.

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And using robogamis, we can do this.

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This is the world's
smallest haptic interface

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that can recreate a sensation of touch
just underneath your fingertip.

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We do this by moving the robogami

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By microscopic and macroscopic
movements at the stage,

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and by having this, not only
will you be able to feel

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how big the object is,

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the roundness and the lines,

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but also the stiffness and the texture.

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Alex has this interface
just underneath his thumb,

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and if he were to use this
with a VR goggles and hand controllers,

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now the virtual reality
is no longer virtual.

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It becomes a tangible reality.

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The blue ball, red ball,
and black ball that he's looking

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is no longer differentiated by colors.

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Now it is a rubber blue ball,
sponge red ball, and billiard black ball.

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This is now possible.

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Let me show you.

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This is really the first time
this is shown live

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in front of a public grand audience,

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so hopefully this works.

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So what you see here
is an atlas of anatomy,

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and the robogami haptic interface.

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So, like all the other
reconfigurable robots,

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it multitasks.

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Not only is it going to serve as a mouse,

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but also a haptic interface.

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So for example, we have a white background
where there is no object.

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That means there is nothing to feel,

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so we can have a very,
very flexible interface.

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Now I use this as a mouse
to approach a skin,

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a muscular arm,
so now let's feel his biceps,

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or shoulders.

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So now you see how stiffer it becomes.

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Let's explore even more.

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Let's approach the ribcage,

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and as soon as I move
on top of the ribcage

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and between the ?? muscles,

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which is softer and harder, I can feel
the difference of the stiffness.

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Take my word for it.

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So now you see it's much stiffer
in terms of the force

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it's giving back to my fingertip.

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So I showed you the surfaces
that's not moving.

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How about if I were to approach
something that moves,

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for example like a beating heart?

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What would I feel?

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(Applause)

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This can be your beating heart.

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This can actually be inside your pocket

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while you're shopping online.

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Now you'll be able to feel the difference
of the sweater that you're buying,

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how soft it is,

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if it's actually cashmere or not,

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or the bagel that you're trying to buy,

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how hard it is or how crispy it is.

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This is now possible.

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The robotics technology is advancing
to be more personalized and adaptive,

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to adapt to our everyday needs.

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This unique specie
of reconfigurable robotics

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is actually the platform to provide
this invisible, intuitive interface

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to meet our exact needs.

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These robots will no longer look like
the characters from the movies.

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Instead, they will be whatever
you want them to be.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)