This research introduces Meta-Ori, a groundbreaking technique that combines metamaterials and origami principles to create highly customizable soft robotic actuators with programmable nonlinear responses.

• Enables precise programming of mechanical behaviors through geometric design rather than material properties
• Creates soft actuators with complex motions and sequencing capabilities using monolithic 3D-printed structures
• Achieves a wide range of nonlinear responses (snap-through, bistability) difficult to implement with conventional approaches
• Simplifies fabrication through single-material 3D printing with TPU filaments

This engineering breakthrough significantly expands design possibilities for soft robotics applications, offering new avenues for creating medical devices, adaptive grippers, and other systems requiring sophisticated mechanical responses from simple inputs.

Meta-Ori: monolithic meta-origami for nonlinear inflatable soft actuators