Roels Ellen, Terryn Seppe, Brancart Joost, Verhelle Robrecht, Van Assche Guy, Vanderborght Bram
Robotics and Multibody Mechanics (R&MM), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
Flanders Make, Brussels, Belgium.
Soft Robot. 2020 Dec;7(6):711-723. doi: 10.1089/soro.2019.0081. Epub 2020 Mar 10.
The field of self-healing soft robots was initiated a few years ago. A healing ability can be integrated in soft robots by manufacturing their soft membranes out of synthetic self-healing polymers, more specifically elastomeric Diels-Alder (DA) networks. As such they can recover completely from macroscopic damage, including scratches, cuts, and ruptures. Before this research, these robots were manufactured using a technique named "shaping-through-folding-and-self-healing." This technique requires extensive manual labor, is relatively slow, and does not allow for complex shapes. In this article, an additive manufacturing methodology, fused filament fabrication, is developed for the thermoreversible DA polymers, and the approach is validated on a soft robotic gripper. The reversibility of their network permits manufacturing these flexible self-healing polymers through reactive printing into the complex shapes required in soft robotics. The degree of freedom in the design of soft robotics that this new manufacturing technique offers is illustrated through the construction of adaptive DHAS gripper fingers, based on the design by FESTO. Being constructed out of self-healing soft flexible polymer, the fingers can recover entirely from large cuts, tears, and punctures. This is highlighted through various damage-heal cycles.
自修复软机器人领域是在几年前开创的。通过用合成自修复聚合物，更具体地说是弹性体狄尔斯-阿尔德（DA）网络制造软机器人的软膜，可以将修复能力集成到软机器人中。这样它们就能从宏观损伤中完全恢复，包括划痕、切口和破裂。在这项研究之前，这些机器人是使用一种名为“通过折叠和自修复成型”的技术制造的。这种技术需要大量的体力劳动，相对较慢，并且不允许制造复杂的形状。在本文中，针对热可逆DA聚合物开发了一种增材制造方法——熔融长丝制造，并在一个软机器人夹具上对该方法进行了验证。其网络的可逆性允许通过反应性打印将这些柔性自修复聚合物制造成软机器人所需的复杂形状。通过基于费斯托公司设计的自适应DHAS夹具手指的构建，展示了这种新制造技术在软机器人设计中所提供的自由度。手指由自修复软柔性聚合物制成，能够从大的切口、撕裂和穿刺中完全恢复。通过各种损伤-修复循环突出了这一点。
