A Novel Fold‐Based Design Approach toward Printable Soft Robotics Using Flexible 3D Printing Materials

Abstract

Soft robotic technologies have been known to have various advantages over their rigid counterparts due to their compliant and deformable properties. They can carry out delicate object manipulation and perform complex maneuvers in confined spaces, which traditional robotics has difficulty with. The most widely adopted fabrication method for traditional soft elastomeric fluidic actuators is mold‐casting, which is cumbersome and involves several manual steps. Therefore, a substantial variability in performance and quality of these actuators arises directly from the manufacturing process. This paper presents on a novel fold‐based design of a 3D‐printed soft pneumatic bending actuator. In contrast to other works that rely on high‐end multimaterial 3D printers, a consumer‐grade open source 3D printer to fabricate soft pneumatic actuators in a fast and cheap way using fused deposition modeling technology has been adapted. This allows for consistency in both the quality of the actuators and their mechanical performance. The key findings in (1) a 3D‐printed fold‐based actuator fabrication process, (2) actuator characterization, and (3) a design‐centric approach toward different bending profiles for different applications are presented.

Soft Pneumatic Sensing Chambers for Generic and Interactive Human–Machine Interfaces

“…Our aim is to directly 3D print soft robots with integrated actuation and sensing capabilities using low‐cost and open‐source 3D printers that use soft and flexible materials. Soft pneumatic actuators are compatible with our aim, and recently various 3D‐printable soft pneumatic actuators based on multiple additive manufacturing technologies were developed . In the present study, we introduce 3D‐printable soft pneumatic sensors to complement 3D‐printable actuation concepts based on pneumatics and other actuation methods for soft robots.…”

Fully 3D Printed Monolithic Soft Gripper with High Conformal Grasping Capability

“…Charbel Tawk, Yuan Gao, Rahim Mutlu and Gursel Alici printing [29][30][31], multi-material 3D printing [32][33] and silicone 3D printing [34].…”

Geometry-Based Customization of Bending Modalities for 3D-Printed Soft Pneumatic Actuators

“…Rapid prototyping, customizable design, and single-step fabrication of complex structures at high resolutions are the main advantages of 3D-printing of flexible materials [16] over manual fabrication of elastomeric material via mold-casting. Actuators made of flexible materials using 3D-printers based on fused deposition modelling (FDM) technology have been made capable of performing extension and bending motion and achieving high force output [17] [18]. Although combination of 3D-printing of flexible materials such as NinjaFlex with other materials (e.g.…”

“…fabric) has broadened the attainable range of motion by allowing heterogeneous bending trajectories [19], the motion of such actuators is still limited to a planar bending profile. Nevertheless, the potentials of 3Dprinted actuators to perform helical motion have been recently demonstrated [18]. However, the actuator that was developed remained wanting in characterization of the kinematics in the…”