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12. Soft robotics

LET'S START


INSPIRATION

Naji Al-Ali


My inspiration here is a Palestinian artist called Naji Al-Ali


reference of the sketch

Naji Salim Hussain Al-Ali was a Palestinian cartoonist noted for the political criticism of the Arab regimes and Israel in his works. Al-Ali is best known as the creator of the character Handala, a personification of the Palestinian people that has become a prominent symbol of Palestinian nationalism and resistance.

More about kufiya

I like here that this inspiration is kufiya from my origin culture, the scarf we have. It is a kind of resistance for all the people in Palestine; we wear it when we dance a kind of Dabkeh or at weddings in many places.

During this week, we learned two basics for making inflatables.

DIGITAL KUFIYA

Illustrator

Here I start with Illustrator: I used a photo on my computer, then traced it to make it vector with the command image trace. Then I separated the shape into parts and made groups. Then I exported it as an SVG file for laser cutting or 3D modeling. I isolated the best part from the picture for creating my soft robot, a channel for the air, and connected some bubbles.

You can download the vector PDF here.


FUSION 360

Then I used Fusion 360. I imported the SVG file into the fusion, then extruded the shape to create one part of the mold with the air channel.

I created a box with basic commands like rectangle and offset for casting silicone.

I combined one box with another shape to create part A, and I scaled the second box to create part B.

Each part of the mold has a 5 mm depth for casting little layers of silicone.

I finally exported STL files for slicing for 3D printing.

CURA


Then we have the 3D models, and we put them in CURA before slicing them with PLA.

Ultimaker S5
Material: PLA

Print speed: 40
Layer Hight: 0.1
Infill: 20%
Retraction distance: 6 mm
Retraction speed: 70
printing temperature 200C

Adhesion type: none

After slicing, we have ready-printed parts to cast silicone inside.

MOLDS


Then we should cast silicone inside the mold to have the parts for the soft robotics.

CASTING SILICONE

We have the material here, which is silicone Ecoflex 00-30:

  • here, part A.
  • Part B, the hardener.
  • The ratio here is 1:1.
  • I put here 24 grams for each part A and B.
  • Just mix all for 3' and cast in the mold.

Wait 4 hours and it will be ready, inshallah!

After casting, we should cast the material to have ready things, then just glue it with a little bit of silicone to have a ready soft robot. It's really a fun week, and we enjoy it.

Then we tried to inflate the soft robot with the syringe connected to a needle to check if it was working or not.

3D MODELS


1 by shahed_j on Sketchfab


2 by shahed_j on Sketchfab


THERMO TRANSFER VYNIL

What we did with the vinyl:

  • We have some tools: backing paper, VYNIL, scissors, and a heat press.

  • At the beginning, you can start drawing a shape on the baking paper.

  • Then cut your shapes with the baking paper.
  • Then you can make a sandwich with two layers of VYNIL and one layer of baking paper in the middle.
  • Don't forget that the shiny VYNIL layer should be outside of the sandwich.
  • Then put your VYNIL sandwich in the heat-pressing machine for one minute.
  • The sandwich is ready to be inflated with air.
  • Last thing is to connect a plastic tube to the soft robot and inflate it with a straw.

the air will move inside the space created by baking paper.

MILLION TRY

DIGITAL ONE

I just tried to understand what that is in small prototypes; it's just to understand the best temperatures, time, and cleanliness of the machine, but don't worry, finally it's working!

After the manual tries, I just tried that with the laser cutter with the baking paper.

  • First, I prepare the file in Illustrator.
  • then I put the paper in the laser-cut machine.
  • I laser-cut the paper.
  • Now you can use a heat press for the final step.
  • Try that with the syringe or air pump, or inflate with a straw.

Bat vector shape created with Illustrator with the pen tool.

I laser cut the baking paper inside the machine using the following settings: Power: 20; Speed: 30

I added the hinges manually with scissors in order to create some movements, like the wings.

Heat Press

  • Settings: temperature 90 C for 30 second.

  • Workflow: put the vinyl material with the baking paper in between to make sure you seal the vinyl parts together

This is the final soft robot, sealed together.

You can find the PDF here.

Just having fun with a lot of tries!

TOOLS