12. Soft robotics¶
This week we made soft robots : inflatable textile and silicon. We had a lecture by Adriana Cabrera and Lily Chambers. The slides from the course are here.
Researches¶
Soft robots are developped at the Wyss Institute and Harvard University.
This is the first entirely soft robot, powered by a chemical reaction controlled by microfluidics, the 3D-printed 'octobot' has no electronics.
This video shows some amazing researches about it. They call it origami-inspired artificial muscles.
They aslo developped a structure that can change shape over time.
This is a soft robotic shoulder support for stroke rehabilitation.
Commercial rehabilitation robots exist, but most are expensive, rigid, non-portable exoskeletons that can only be used in clinical rehabilitation settings. The robotic soft shoulder device consists of a textile-based inflatable actuator anchored to the body within a comfortable compression garment. Upon inflation, the device aids in lifting the arm to counteract the effects of gravity.
Vinyl experiment¶
I followed Adriana Cabrera's tutorials.
Silicon experiment¶
I used the molds I made during biomaterial's week.
It didn't work very well...