A bio-inspired intestine robot utilizing soft origami Kresling structures to imitate peristaltic wave motion and transport

Abstract

This paper presents a single-drive bio-inspired intestine robot that leverages the coupled rotational-contraction dynamics of Kresling origami structures and unidirectional valves to replicate intestinal peristalsis for directional transport. The minimalist design, comprising a servo motor, antagonistic chiral Kresling units, and check valves, enables continuous peristaltic wave propagation through reciprocal torsional input. Experimental validation demonstrates exceptional performance: transport speeds up to 20.91 mm/s, load capacity exceeding 97 g, and adaptability to objects spanning 32–46 mm in diameter across inclinations of 0°–90°. Key innovations include: (1) Biomechanical mimicry through antagonistic chiral units that convert rotation into radial contractions, replicating segmented intestinal propulsion; (2) Performance breakthroughs in speed and payload, enabled by efficient energy transfer from torsional kinematics; and (3) Valve-enabled directionality ensuring net forward displacement. Theoretical analysis establishes geometric constraints for valve-mediated transport, explaining the optimized operating range via valve aperture dynamics and material compliance. This work advances gastrointestinal robotics by addressing critical limitations in existing simulators: complex actuation, slow transport, and directional instability, providing a robust platform for medical applications such as segment artificial intestines replacement.

Keywords

Bio-intestine robot / Kresling structure / Peristaltic wave / Artificial intestine development

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Manjia Su: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft, Supervision, Project administration, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis, Conceptualization. Beibin Liang: Validation, Methodology, Investigation, Conceptualization. Haoxu Chen: Visualization, Validation, Methodology, Data curation. Jing Lan: Writing – original draft, Visualization, Validation, Formal analysis. Jinhui Zhou: Validation, Software, Methodology, Data curation. Hua Zhong: Visualization, Validation, Data curation. Yijiong Lin: Visualization, Validation, Conceptualization. Chunlong Wang: Visualization, Supervision, Conceptualization. Ruiwei Liu: Visualization, Validation, Supervision, Conceptualization.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgments

This work is partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52305014, 52475008 and 52105011), the Youth S&T Talent Support Programme of Guangdong Provincial Association for Science and Technology (SKXRC2025415), the “Yangcheng Scholars” scientific research project of Guangzhou (202235334), the Basic and applied basic research projects of Guangzhou (2022JXGG 108) and Start-up Fund for Talent Introduction at Guang-zhou Jiaotong University through K42024013.

Appendix A. Supplementary data

Supplementary material related to this article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.birob.2026.100282.

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