Fully 3D printed soft microactuators for soft microrobotics. (10th July 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Tyagi, Manav; Spinks, Geoffrey M; Jager, Edwin W H
• Is Part Of: Smart materials and structures. Volume 29:Number 8(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-07-10
• Subjects: 3D printing -- hydrogel -- microactuators -- microrobotics -- soft robotics; Smart materials -- Periodicals; Strucural design -- Periodicals; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1088/1361-665X/ab9f48
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0964-1726

Abstract

Abstract: The feasibility of additive manufacturing actuating microstructures and microdevices with small dimension is presented. Using a custom-built extrusion 3D printer and CAD model of the device structure, bilayer microactuators driven by hydrogels are fabricated down to a size of 300 × 1000 μ m 2, with a minimum thickness of 30 μ m. To explore the limitations of the 3D printing process, microactuators with a width of 300 μ m and lengths ranging from 1000 to 5000 μ m are manufactured and thereafter operated to demonstrate the feasibility of the process. Similarly, microrobotic devices consisting of a passive rigid body and flexible moving parts are 3D printed to illustrate the ease and versatility of the additive manufacturing technique to fabricate soft microgrippers or micromanipulators.