Related papers: 3D Printed Actuators: Reversibility, Relaxation an…
The rapid design and fabrication of soft robotic matter is of growing interest for shape morphing, actuation, and wearable devices. Here, we report a facile fabrication method for creating soft robotic materials with embedded pneumatics…
Mechanical metamaterials are structures designed to exhibit an exotic response, such as topological soft modes at a surface. Here we explore single-material 3D prints of these topological structures by translating a ball-and-spring model…
The first hygroscopic tunable cloth actuator is realized via modification of commercial cloth template by a 3D nanoporous polymer hybrid. The nanoporous hybrid guarantees fast water diffusion and amplifies deformation. The cloth actuator…
Large-scale shape-changing interfaces have great potential, but creating such systems requires substantial time, cost, space, and efforts, which hinders the research community to explore interactions beyond the scale of human hands. We…
Soft actuators are receiving increasing attention from the engineering community, not only in research but even for industrial applications. Among soft actuators, fibre-reinforced Bending Fluidic Actuators (BFAs) became very popular thanks…
When materials are patterned in three dimensions, there exist opportunities to tailor and create functionalities associated with an increase in complexity, the breaking of symmetries, and the introduction of curvature and non-trivial…
This paper introduces DextAIRity, an approach to manipulate deformable objects using active airflow. In contrast to conventional contact-based quasi-static manipulations, DextAIRity allows the system to apply dense forces on out-of-contact…
Nature has exhibited numerous soft-interactive botanical or zoological systems with self-adaptivenss or reconfigurable shape, however, artificial micro/nano materials of same merit are formidable due to material/structural limitations,…
A powerful and flexible method of 3D nano-printing, based on focusing charged aerosol, has been developed. The self-consistent electric field configuration, created with a holey floating mask and used as the scaffold for printing…
During the COVID-19 pandemic, medical facilities began using 3D printed PPE sourced from their own print labs, makerspaces, universities, and individuals with 3D printers to fill the gaps in supply as traditional manufacturing was not…
Conventional 3D printings are generally time-consuming and printable metal inks are rather limited. From an alternative way, we proposed a liquid phase 3D printing for quickly making metal objects. Through introducing metal alloys whose…
To facilitate sensing and physical interaction in remote and/or constrained environments, high-extension, lightweight robot manipulators are easier to transport and reach substantially further than traditional serial chain manipulators. We…
Two-dimensional materials can be combined by placing individual layers on top of each other, so that they are bound only by their van der Waals interaction. The sequence of layers can be chosen arbitrarily, enabling an essentially…
Numerous soft actuators based on PneuNet design have already been proposed and extensively employed across various soft robotics applications in recent years. Despite their widespread use, a common limitation of most existing designs is…
Layered manufacturing inherently suffers from staircase defects along surfaces that are gently slopped with respect to the build direction. Reducing the slice thickness improves the situation but never resolves it completely as flat layers…
Magnetic elastomers deform under a magnetic field, working as a soft actuator. Untethered microbot made of magnetic elastomers have great potentials in performing medical tasks inside human body as mini doctors. However, the lack of a…
The reproduction of automobile components through additive manufacturing presents significant geometric challenges, as many automotive parts feature complex, organically shaped surfaces that are difficult to fabricate accurately using…
Textile pneumatic actuators can provide useful wearable haptic feedback when embedded in gloves, armbands, and other smart garments. Here we investigate actuators fabricated from thermoplastic coated textiles. We measure the effects of…
Consumer-grade 3D printers have made it easier to fabricate aesthetic objects and static assemblies, opening the door to automated design of such objects. However, while static designs are easily produced with 3D printing, functional…
With recent advances in both responsive materials and fabrication techniques it is now possible to construct integrated functional structures, composed of both structural and active materials. We investigate the robust design of such…