Scientist debuts 3D printed durable robots

Robotics are nothing new but they have come a very long way over the past several decades. While robots used to be somewhat slow and clunky—and some still are—there are a few, these days, which are faster and more precise than their predecessors.

The new generation of soft robots are both adaptable and resilient but not always easy to make.

But now, new research has led to the development of the first 3-D printed soft robot that can move autonomously.

“The vision for the field of soft robotics is to create robots that are entirely soft,” explains senior study author Robert J. Wood, with the Charles River Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS).

Photo Credit: Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and the Harvard John A. Paulson School of E ngineering and Applied Sciences

He is also a Core Faculty Member at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard, and he goes on to say, “But for practical reasons, our soft robots typically have some rigid components — things like batteries and control electronics. This robot is a demonstration of a method to integrate the rigid components with the body of the soft robot through a gradient of material properties, eliminating an abrupt hard-to-soft transition that is often a failure point.”

Furthermore, lead study author Nicholas Bartlett, notes, “The wonderful thing about soft robots is that they lend themselves nicely to abuse.” The SEAS graduate student continues, “The robot’s stiffness gradient allows it to withstand the impact of dozens of landings and to survive the combustion event required for jumping. Consequently, the robot not only shows improved overall robustness but can locomote much more quickly than traditional soft robots.”

Wood adds, “Soft robotics is a relativity nascent subfield and 3-D printing is adding to the repertoire of things we can do in a really practical way.”