{"id":191021,"date":"2024-06-11T16:23:01","date_gmt":"2024-06-11T21:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2024\/06\/3d-printed-mini-actuators-can-move-small-soft-robots-lock-them-into-new-shapes"},"modified":"2024-06-11T16:23:01","modified_gmt":"2024-06-11T21:23:01","slug":"3d-printed-mini-actuators-can-move-small-soft-robots-lock-them-into-new-shapes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2024\/06\/3d-printed-mini-actuators-can-move-small-soft-robots-lock-them-into-new-shapes","title":{"rendered":"3D-printed mini-actuators can move small soft robots, lock them into new shapes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"display: block; margin: 0 auto; width: 100%; aspect-ratio: 4\/3; object-fit: contain;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5SIwsw9IyIc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope;\n   picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>If users wish to \u201cfreeze\u201d the soft robot\u2019s shape, they can apply moderate heat (64\u00b0C, or 147\u00b0F), and then let the robot cool briefly. This prevents the soft robot from reverting to its original shape, even after the liquid in the microfluidic channels is pumped out. If users want to return the soft robot to its original shape, they simply apply the heat again after pumping out the liquid, and the robot relaxes to its original configuration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA key factor here is fine-tuning the thickness of the shape memory layer relative to the layer that contains the microfluidic channels,\u201d says Yinding Chi, co-lead author of the paper and a former Ph.D. student at NC State. \u201cYou need the shape memory layer to be thin enough to bend when the actuator\u2019s pressure is applied, but thick enough to get the soft robot to retain its shape even after the pressure is removed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To demonstrate the technique, the researchers created a soft robot \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/techxplore.com\/tags\/gripper\/\" rel=\"tag\" class=\"\">gripper<\/a>,\u201d capable of picking up small objects. The researchers applied hydraulic pressure, causing the gripper to pinch closed on an object. By applying heat, the researchers were able to fix the gripper in its \u201cclosed\u201d position, even after releasing pressure from the hydraulic actuator.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If users wish to \u201cfreeze\u201d the soft robot\u2019s shape, they can apply moderate heat (64\u00b0C, or 147\u00b0F), and then let the robot cool briefly. This prevents the soft robot from reverting to its original shape, even after the liquid in the microfluidic channels is pumped out. If users want to return the soft robot to [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":367,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-191021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-robotics-ai"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/367"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191021\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}