Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Here at Super Releaser we’ve created a soft robotic quadruped, named the Glaucus, that
has no hard mechanical parts.
It consists of one seamless rubber skin and can walk using only two inputs. When we pressurize
each of the chambers, the internal geometry distorts, and the robot moves.
The advantage of the method we’ve developed to produce this robot is that once the initial
molds are 3d printed all the subsequent castings are made by simply mixing materials and pouring
them into the 3d printed parts. All the mechanical complexity of the quadruped is part of the
molds themselves. Since the molds are 3d printed we could even scale up to producing hundreds
of these robots using the same simple techniques.
Let’s look at some potential applications for this technology. Using these techniques
we could produce an orthotic cuff that could conform to any body. When inflated it could
provide extra force for reaching and lifting for stroke rehabilitation or physical therapy.
For prosthetics we could take scan data from a residual limb and compute where force will
be distributed. Then we could add padding and cushioning for pain points as dictated
by that data. Finally we could give this silicone sleeve an outer texture to allow it to mechanically
lock in with a prosthetic, providing a solid mechanical bond.
Super Releaser is an open source company, and we encourage you to visit our site, download
this quadruped, and experiment with the technology for your own projects.