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Optimal Soft Composites for Under‐Actuated Soft Robots
Author(s) -
Boddeti Narasimha,
Van Truong Tien,
Joseph Vincent S.,
Stalin Thileepan,
Calais Theo,
Lee Shien Yang,
Dunn Martin L.,
Valdivia y Alvarado Pablo
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
advanced materials technologies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.184
H-Index - 42
ISSN - 2365-709X
DOI - 10.1002/admt.202100361
Subject(s) - fabrication , soft robotics , materials science , composite number , robot , benchmark (surveying) , workflow , mechanical engineering , soft materials , nanotechnology , underwater , computer science , composite material , engineering , artificial intelligence , medicine , oceanography , alternative medicine , geodesy , pathology , database , geology , geography
Material properties and composite structures play key roles in tailoring the performance of soft robots. Unfortunately, current design and fabrication approaches limit achievable complexity and functionality in these two categories and hinder soft robot performance. Here, an approach that allows design and direct fabrication of novel soft composite structures is presented. The process uses computational topology optimization to determine the required 3D composite structure of soft hyper‐elastic bodies. The direct fabrication of the soft composite structures using an all‐in‐one fabrication workflow with resilient silicone polymers enables precise tailoring of mechanical properties. By applying this approach to the design and fabrication of an underwater batoid‐inspired soft robot, significant swimming performance improvements is demonstrated. An optimized composite prototype displays 50% faster swimming speeds, 28% faster turning rates, and 55% smaller turning radii than un‐optimized benchmark prototypes.