Slow-curing polymers 3D printed into robotic replica of human hand

News

In an advance for soft robotics, a new laser scanning technique has been used to 3D print a robotic hand with bones, ligaments and tendons with slow curing polymers.

Credit ETH Zurich Thomas Buchner

The development from ETH Zurich and MIT spin-off Inkbit makes 3D printing suitable for slow-​curing polymers whose properties include elasticity, durability and robustness.

Consequently, researchers can now 3D print complex, more durable robots from a variety of high-​quality materials. According to ETH, the new technology also makes it possible to combine soft, elastic, and rigid materials. The researchers can also use it to create delicate structures and parts with cavities.

“We wouldn’t have been able to make this hand with the fast-​curing polyacrylates we’ve been using in 3D printing so far,” said Thomas Buchner, a doctoral student in the group of ETH Zurich robotics professor Robert Katzschmann and first author of the study. “We’re now using slow-​curing thiolene polymers. These have very good elastic properties and return to their original state much faster after bending than polyacrylates.”

In addition to being suitable for the elastic ligaments of the robotic hand, the stiffness of thiolenes can be fine-​tuned to meet the requirements of soft robots.

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3D printing