Soft robot actuators printed at minute scale

News

A pan-Asian research team has developed a new method for 3D printing soft robotic actuators at a minuscule scale. 

Described in Advanced Materials Technologies, the technique refines an emerging 3D printing technology known as digital light processing (DLP). The researchers, drawn from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), and China’s Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) and Zhejiang University (ZJU), designed a process for guiding DLP to print pneumatic actuators for soft robots with a size of 2-15mm. Individual features on the actuators were as small as 150μm. According to the team, the breakthrough could have applications ranging from jet aircraft maintenance to keyhole surgery.

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"We leveraged the high efficiency and resolution of DLP 3D printing to fabricate miniature soft robotic actuators," said lead researcher Associate Professor Qi (Kevin) Ge from SUSTech.

"To ensure reliable printing fidelity and mechanical performance in the printed products, we introduced a new paradigm for systematic and efficient tailoring of the material formulation and key processing parameters."

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