3D-printed mini-actuators move small soft robots

The researchers from North Carolina State University have also demonstrated that this technique works with shape memory materials, allowing users to repeatedly lock the soft robots into a desired shape and return to the original shape as needed. The team’s work is detailed in Advanced Materials.

In a statement, Jie Yin, corresponding author and an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at NC State, said: “Soft robotics holds promise for many applications, but it is challenging to design the actuators that drive the motion of soft robots on a small scale.

“Our approach makes use of commercially available multi-material 3D printing technologies and shape memory polymers to create soft actuators on a microscale that allow us to control very small soft robots, which allows for exceptional control and delicacy.”

The soft robots consist of two layers, the first a flexible polymer created using 3D printing technologies and incorporating a pattern of microfluidic channels. The second layer is a flexible shape memory polymer.