Rollable designs are common in extendable structures. They use long, flexible materials that can be wound onto a hub for storage without the need for joints. However, it is hard to achieve high stiffness and strength in the extended state while keeping the hub small, because stiff structures are hard to bend and usually need bigger hubs for storage.

To solve this issue, we applied the principle of interlacing to an origami-inspired structure. The proposed structure can be smoothly folded and rolled for compact storage while maintaining high strength when deployed. We also demonstrate two deployable mobile robotic systems, which shows that the structure is well-suited for applications that need both compact stowage and high post-deployment strength under real task loads.

Interlacing is a structural principle that connects multiple elements by crossing and interlocking them—rather than rigid bonding—so the elements can slide and rearrange in one direction while locking together in another to share loads and maintain shape.

In this work, we introduced interlacing into a corrugated rollable structure by arranging metal strips in parallel and weaving them with ribbons to create loop-shaped interlacing joints.

These joints densely constrain neighboring strips to form a stiff corrugated cross-section, while still allowing local sliding through the ribbon loops. This sliding relieves stress concentrations caused by thickness-induced perimeter mismatch in multi-layer stacking, enabling smooth winding around a hub. Meanwhile, the high density of interlacing stabilizes the cross-section, providing high strength and stiffness in the deployed state.

To demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed Interlaced origami structure, we present two mobile robotic systems: (A) a compact mobile robot in which the structure functions as a deployable robotic arm and (B) a deployable mobile robot whose deployable frame was assembled from multiple interlaced origami structures.