School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University College Dublin, Belfield, Ireland.
SFI Centre for Research in Medical Devices (CÚRAM), University College Dublin, Dublin and National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland.
Soft Robot. 2018 Dec;5(6):726-736. doi: 10.1089/soro.2018.0030. Epub 2018 Aug 27.
This article presents a direct additive manufacturing method for composite material soft pneumatic actuators that are capable of performing a range of programmable motions. Commonly, molding is the method used to manufacture soft fluidic actuators. This is material, labor, and time intensive and lacks the design freedom to produce custom actuators efficiently. This article proposes an alternative semiautomated method of designing and manufacturing composite soft actuators. An affordable, open-source, desktop three-dimensional (3D) printer was modified into a four-axis, combined, fused deposition modeling, and paste extrusion printer. A Grasshopper 3D algorithm was devised to implement custom actuator designs according to user inputs, resulting in a G-code print file. Bending, contracting, and twisting motion actuators were parametrically designed and subsequently additively manufactured from silicone and thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) materials. Experimental testing was completed on these actuators along with their constitutive materials. Finite element models were created to simulate the actuator's kinematic performance. Having a platform method to digitally configure and directly additively manufacture custom-motion, composite soft actuators has the potential to accelerate the development of more intricate designs and lead to potential impacts in a range of areas, including in-clinic personalization of soft assistive devices and patient-specific biomedical devices.
本文提出了一种用于复合材料软气动执行器的直接增材制造方法，该执行器能够执行一系列可编程运动。通常，模制是用于制造软流体制动器的方法。这种方法既耗费材料、劳动力又耗时，而且缺乏高效生产定制执行器的设计自由度。本文提出了一种替代的半自动化设计和制造复合软执行器的方法。一种价格实惠、开源的桌面三维（3D）打印机被改装成四轴、组合、熔融沉积建模和糊剂挤出打印机。设计了一个 Grasshopper 3D 算法，根据用户输入实现定制执行器设计，生成 G 代码打印文件。弯曲、收缩和扭曲运动执行器采用硅酮和热塑性弹性体（TPE）材料进行参数化设计，并随后进行增材制造。对这些执行器及其组成材料进行了实验测试。创建有限元模型来模拟执行器的运动性能。拥有一种数字化配置和直接增材制造定制运动的平台方法，有可能加速更复杂设计的发展，并在一系列领域产生潜在影响，包括在诊所个性化软辅助设备和患者特定的生物医学设备。
