Soft Robotics: Soft Somatosensitive Actuators via Embedded 3D Printing (Adv. Mater. 15/2018)

Ryan L. Truby; Michael Wehner; Abigail K. Grosskopf; Daniel M. Vogt; Sebastien G. M. Uzel; Robert J. Wood; Jennifer A. Lewis

doi:10.1002/adma.201870106

(Invited) 3D Printing and Wireless Power Transfer Systems for Soft Robotics Applications

ECS Transactions ◽

10.1149/09813.0055ecst ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 98 (13) ◽

pp. 55-58

Author(s):

Sai Kiran Oruganti ◽

Ajit Khosla

Keyword(s):

3D Printing ◽

Wireless Power Transfer ◽

Soft Robotics ◽

Power Transfer ◽

Wireless Power

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A review of 3D printing processes and materials for soft robotics

Rapid Prototyping Journal ◽

10.1108/rpj-11-2019-0302 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 26 (8) ◽

pp. 1345-1361 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Yee Ling Yap ◽

Swee Leong Sing ◽

Wai Yee Yeong

Keyword(s):

3D Printing ◽

Soft Robotics ◽

Soft Robots ◽

Content Type ◽

Advantages And Disadvantages ◽

The Future ◽

3D Printed ◽

Multiple Materials ◽

Printing Processes ◽

Printing Techniques

Purpose Soft robotics is currently a rapidly growing new field of robotics whereby the robots are fundamentally soft and elastically deformable. Fabrication of soft robots is currently challenging and highly time- and labor-intensive. Recent advancements in three-dimensional (3D) printing of soft materials and multi-materials have become the key to enable direct manufacturing of soft robots with sophisticated designs and functions. Hence, this paper aims to review the current 3D printing processes and materials for soft robotics applications, as well as the potentials of 3D printing technologies on 3D printed soft robotics. Design/methodology/approach The paper reviews the polymer 3D printing techniques and materials that have been used for the development of soft robotics. Current challenges to adopting 3D printing for soft robotics are also discussed. Next, the potentials of 3D printing technologies and the future outlooks of 3D printed soft robotics are presented. Findings This paper reviews five different 3D printing techniques and commonly used materials. The advantages and disadvantages of each technique for the soft robotic application are evaluated. The typical designs and geometries used by each technique are also summarized. There is an increasing trend of printing shape memory polymers, as well as multiple materials simultaneously using direct ink writing and material jetting techniques to produce robotics with varying stiffness values that range from intrinsically soft and highly compliant to rigid polymers. Although the recent work is done is still limited to experimentation and prototyping of 3D printed soft robotics, additive manufacturing could ultimately be used for the end-use and production of soft robotics. Originality/value The paper provides the current trend of how 3D printing techniques and materials are used particularly in the soft robotics application. The potentials of 3D printing technology on the soft robotic applications and the future outlooks of 3D printed soft robotics are also presented.

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Soft Robotics: Miniature Pneumatic Actuators for Soft Robots by High‐Resolution Multimaterial 3D Printing (Adv. Mater. Technol. 10/2019)

Advanced Materials Technologies ◽

10.1002/admt.201970054 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4 (10) ◽

pp. 1970054

Author(s):

Yuan‐Fang Zhang ◽

Colin Ju‐Xiang Ng ◽

Zhe Chen ◽

Wang Zhang ◽

Sahil Panjwani ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Resolution ◽

3D Printing ◽

Soft Robotics ◽

Soft Robots ◽

Pneumatic Actuators

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A Review on Development of Soft Gripper Using 4D Printing

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED PRODUCTION AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING ◽

10.35121/ijapie202007348 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. 49-55

Author(s):

Ashutosh Singh ◽

◽

Ravi Butola ◽

Jitendra Bhaskar ◽

Keyword(s):

3D Printing ◽

Shape Memory ◽

Advanced Materials ◽

Soft Robotics ◽

4D Printing ◽

Silicone Elastomers ◽

System Architectures ◽

Shape Memory Materials ◽

End Effectors ◽

Future Work

Improvements in soft robotics, materials, and flexible gripper technology made it possible for the soft grippers to advance rapidly. A brief analysis of soft robotic grippers featuring various material collections, physical rules, and system architectures is provided here. Soft gripping is divided into three technologies, enabling gripping with: a) actuation, b) material used, and c) Use of 3D printing in fabricating grippers. An informative analysis is provided of every form. Similar to stiff grippers, flexible and elastic end-effectors may also grab or control a broader variety of objects. The inherent versatility of the materials is increasingly being used to study advanced materials and soft structures, particularly silicone elastomers, shape-memory materials, active polymers, and gels, in the development of compact, simple, and more versatile grippers. For future work, enhanced structures, techniques, and senses play a prominent part.

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Three-dimensional printing of tactile sensors for soft robotics

MRS Bulletin ◽

10.1557/s43577-021-00079-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Xinran Zhou ◽

Pooi See Lee

Keyword(s):

3D Printing ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Tactile Sensor ◽

Soft Robotics ◽

Fabrication Method ◽

Tactile Sensors ◽

Three Dimensional Printing ◽

Future Potential ◽

Dimensional Printing ◽

Printing Techniques

AbstractThree-dimensional (3D) printing has become an important fabrication method for soft robotics, due to its ability to make complex 3D structures from computer designs in simple steps and multimaterial co-deposition ability. In this article, the application of 3D printing techniques in the fabrication of four types of tactile sensors commonly used in soft robotics, including the piezoresistive tactile sensor, capacitive tactile sensor, piezoelectric tactile sensor, and triboelectric tactile sensor, will be discussed. The 3D printing mechanism, material, and structure for each type of sensor will be introduced, and the perspectives on the future potential of 3D printable tactile sensors will be discussed.

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Freeform Liquid 3D Printing of Soft Functional Components for Soft Robotics

ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces ◽

10.1021/acsami.1c20209 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Théo Calais ◽

Naresh D. Sanandiya ◽

Snehal Jain ◽

Elgar V. Kanhere ◽

Siddharth Kumar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

3D Printing ◽

Soft Robotics ◽

Functional Components

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3D printing of a self-healing nanocomposite for stretchable sensors

Journal of Materials Chemistry C ◽

10.1039/c8tc02883d ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 (45) ◽

pp. 12180-12186 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Qinghua Wu ◽

Shibo Zou ◽

Frédérick P. Gosselin ◽

Daniel Therriault ◽

Marie-Claude Heuzey

Keyword(s):

3D Printing ◽

Wearable Sensors ◽

Soft Robotics ◽

Self Healing ◽

Biomedical Devices ◽

Sustainable Materials ◽

Stretchable Sensors

The design of self-healable and stretchable devices from sustainable materials is increasingly attractive for various applications such as soft robotics, wearable sensors, and biomedical devices.

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Printable homocomposite hydrogels with synergistically reinforced molecular-colloidal networks

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-021-23098-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Austin H. Williams ◽

Sangchul Roh ◽

Alan R. Jacob ◽

Simeon D. Stoyanov ◽

Lilian Hsiao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mechanical Properties ◽

3D Printing ◽

Yield Stress ◽

Storage Modulus ◽

Soft Robotics ◽

Structure Property ◽

Interpenetrating Networks ◽

Precise Control ◽

Remarkable Increase ◽

Structure Property Relationships

AbstractThe design of hydrogels where multiple interpenetrating networks enable enhanced mechanical properties can broaden their field of application in biomedical materials, 3D printing, and soft robotics. We report a class of self-reinforced homocomposite hydrogels (HHGs) comprised of interpenetrating networks of multiscale hierarchy. A molecular alginate gel is reinforced by a colloidal network of hierarchically branched alginate soft dendritic colloids (SDCs). The reinforcement of the molecular gel with the nanofibrillar SDC network of the same biopolymer results in a remarkable increase of the HHG’s mechanical properties. The viscoelastic HHGs show >3× larger storage modulus and >4× larger Young’s modulus than either constitutive network at the same concentration. Such synergistically enforced colloidal-molecular HHGs open up numerous opportunities for formulation of biocompatible gels with robust structure-property relationships. Balance of the ratio of their precursors facilitates precise control of the yield stress and rate of self-reinforcement, enabling efficient extrusion 3D printing of HHGs.

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