Printable hydraulics: A method for fabricating robots by 3D co-printing solids and liquids

MacCurdy, Robert; Katzschmann, Robert K.; Kim, Youbin; Rus, Daniela

doi:10.1109/icra.2016.7487576

Cited by 171 publications

(110 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Fluid driven actuators, specifically pneumatic [4,5], vacuum [5,6] and hydraulic [5,7] actuators, are the most common approaches for creating compliant soft robots [1,8]. The pneunet actuators were among the first developed for soft robotics [1].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Compliant electric actuators based on handed shearing auxetics

Chin

Lipton

MacCurdy

et al. 2018

2018 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft)

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Abstract-In this paper, we explore a new class of electric motor-driven compliant actuators based on handed shearing auxetic cylinders. This technique combines the benefits of compliant bodies from soft robotic actuators with the simplicity of direct coupling to electric motors. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this technique by creating linear actuators, a four degree-of-freedom robotic platform, and a soft robotic gripper. We compare the soft robotic gripper against a state of the art pneumatic soft gripper, finding similar grasping performance in a significantly smaller and more energy-efficient package.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Compliant electric actuators based on handed shearing auxetics

Chin

Lipton

MacCurdy

et al. 2018

2018 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft)

Self Cite

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“…This material weakness is typical in Tango+ and Tango+/Vero White mixtures, resulting in difficulty in creating actuators that can hold high amounts of pressure 37 while achieving high deflections. 38 When the valve was actuated in the octopus-like robot demonstration, the actuators slowly began to build pressure as ER fluid was pumped into the robot and blocked from leaving by the valve. However, due to the hydraulic resistance of the inlet tubing and within the robot, when the relief valve reached its max pressure (140 kPa), the pressure in the actuators was lower, leading to bending in the actuators that was less than the angle correlating to 140 kPa.…”

Section: Fig 10mentioning

confidence: 99%

Fully Soft 3D-Printed Electroactive Fluidic Valve for Soft Hydraulic Robots

2018

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Soft robots are designed to utilize their compliance and contortionistic abilities to both interact safely with their environment and move through it in ways a rigid robot cannot. To more completely achieve this, the robot should be made of as many soft components as possible. Here we present a completely soft hydraulic control valve consisting of a 3D-printed photopolymer body with electrorheological (ER) fluid as a working fluid and gallium-indium-tin liquid metal alloy as electrodes. This soft 3D-printed ER valve weighs less than 10 g and allows for onboard actuation control, furthering the goal of an entirely soft controllable robot. The soft ER valve pressure-holding capabilities were tested under unstrained conditions, cyclic valve activation, and the strained conditions of bending, twisting, stretching, and indentation. It was found that the max holding pressure of the valve when 5 kV was applied across the electrodes was 264 kPa, and that the holding pressure deviated less than 15% from the unstrained max holding pressure under all strain conditions except for indentation, which had a 60% max pressure increase. In addition, a soft octopus-like robot was designed, 3D printed, and assembled, and a soft ER valve was used to stop the fluid flow, build pressure in the robot, and actuate six tentacle-like soft bending actuators.

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“…3 In these applications, the properties of the deployable structures typically sought include large-scale shape change, predictable geometric transformations and reconfigurations, passively controllable activation, load bearing capability and tunable deployment conditions. In addition to motorized actuators, a number of passively actuated designs have been proposed, including electricity, 4 light, 5 pressure, 6 shape memory effect (SME), 7 swelling, 8 and piezoelectricity. 9 In the field of space exploration, deployment is a critical phase in the life cycle of a space structure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Autonomous Programmable Actuator and Shape Reconfigurable Structures Using Bistability and Shape Memory Polymers

Chen

SheaKristina

2018

3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing

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Autonomous deployment and shape reconfiguration of structures is a crucial field of research in space exploration with emerging applications in the automotive, building and biomedical industries. Challenges in achieving autonomy include: bulky energy sources, imprecise deployment, jamming of components and lack of structural integrity. Leveraging advances in the fields of shape memory polymers, bistability and 3D multi-material printing, we present a 3D printed programmable actuator that enables the autonomous deployment and shape reconfiguration of structures activated though surrounding temperature change. Using a shape memory polymer as the temperature controllable energy source and a bistable mechanism as the linear actuator and force amplifier, the structures achieve precise geometric activation and quantifiable load bearing capacity. The proposed unit actuator integrates these two components and is designed to be assembled into larger deployable and shape reconfigurable structures. First, we demonstrate that the activation of the unit actuator can be sequenced by tailoring each shape memory polymer to a different activation time. Next, by changing the configuration of the actuator, we demonstrate an initially flat surface that transforms into a pyramid or a hyperbolic paraboloid, thus demonstrating a multi-state structure. Load bearing capability is demonstrated for both during activation and in the operating state. arXiv:1711.00452v1 [physics.app-ph] 1 Nov 2017 2/8

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Printable hydraulics: A method for fabricating robots by 3D co-printing solids and liquids

Cited by 171 publications

References 29 publications

Compliant electric actuators based on handed shearing auxetics

Compliant electric actuators based on handed shearing auxetics

Fully Soft 3D-Printed Electroactive Fluidic Valve for Soft Hydraulic Robots

An Autonomous Programmable Actuator and Shape Reconfigurable Structures Using Bistability and Shape Memory Polymers

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