Inclined kirigami cuts unlock twist when stretched, opening path to soft robots

Kirigami is a variation on the Japanese art of origami, or paper folding, in which cuts are used to create three-dimensional structures—for example, pop-up cards created from a sheet of paper. Kirigami also has applications in engineering design for creating materials with unique mechanical behaviors. However, most studies of kirigami materials have focused on structures with parallel and perpendicular cuts, limiting the applications of the final creations.