Abstract
The soft robotics displays huge advantages over their rigid counterparts when interacting with living organisms and fragile objects. As one of the most efficient actuators toward soft robotics, the soft pneumatic actuator (SPA) can produce large, complex responses with utilizing pressure as the only input source. In this work, a new approach that combines digital light processing (DLP) and injection-assisted post-curing is proposed to create SPAs that can realize different functionalities. To enable this, we develop a new class of photo-cross linked elastomers with tunable mechanical properties, good stretchability, and rapid curing speed. By carefully designing the geometry of the cavities embedded in the actuators, the resulting actuators can realize contracting, expanding, flapping, and twisting motions. In addition, we successfully fabricate a soft self-sensing bending actuator by injecting conductive liquids into the three-dimensional (3D) printed actuator, demonstrating that the present method has the potential to be used to manufacture intelligent soft robotic systems.
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Citation: ZHANG, Q., WENG, S. Y., ZHAO, Z. A., QI, H. J., and FANG, D. N. Soft pneumatic actuators by digital light processing combined with injection-assisted post-curing. Applied Mathematics and Mechanics (English Edition) (2021) https://doi.org/10.1007/s10483-021-2705-7
Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 11572002 and 12002032) and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Nos. BX20200056 and 2020M670149)
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Zhang, Q., Weng, S., Zhao, Z. et al. Soft pneumatic actuators by digital light processing combined with injection-assisted post-curing. Appl. Math. Mech.-Engl. Ed. 42, 159–172 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10483-021-2705-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10483-021-2705-7
Key words
- soft pneumatic actuator (SPA)
- digital light processing (DLP)
- injection-assisted post-curing
- three-dimensional (3D) printing