MIT & ETH Zurich Demonstrate Soft Robotics Potential With 3D Printed Robotic Hand

The research and development of robotics is growing in line with its respective areas of application and requirements. In particular, soft robotics is on the rise as robots made of soft materials enable elastic deformations and minimize hazards that often exist with conventional robots made of rigid materials such as steel or aluminum. The advantages of soft robotics are in demand in a wide variety of fields such as healthcare, where human-machine interactions and gripping fragile or complex objects is being tested.

Growth driven by new applications is also a parameter that applies to the development of 3D printing. Robotics and additive manufacturing share this commonality so it is no wonder that the technologies are merging and robots are increasingly being manufactured using 3D printing. Until now, additive manufacturing has been limited to processing only quick-curing plastics. However, an advanced, expanding portfolio of compatible materials is also bringing new developments and new application potential. In this context, a study by the Massachusets Institute of Technology (MIT) and ETH Zurich in Switzerland, focused on a special role for a 3D-printed robotic hand.

For the first time, researchers across the Atlantic have succeeded in processing slow-curing plastics in 3D printing. These plastics are elastic, more durable, and enable a handheld robot to print them in a single pass. This was made possible by the cooperation with the US start-up Inkbit and its technology. They worked together on the study “Vision-controlled jetting for composite systems and robots” with the aim of producing high-resolution, complex structures with different material properties and recreating the functions of natural organisms in a synthetic form. They combined 3D printing with laser scanners and a feedback mechanism.