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8. Soft robotics

Research

describe what you see in this image

Soft Robotics is an interesting subject.

Example 1

Example 2

Example 3

Documentation from Class

References & Inspiration

I was very fortunate to be able to examine this concept more closely with a decorated Fabricademy Alumni.

Grecia Bello is a 2025 Chevron STEM Fellow and a 2024 Graduate of Fabricademy. Grecia chose the FVSU Fab Lab as one of her host sites during her 2025 Chevron STEM Fellowship

Grecia Grecia and Heaven


Tools

- Fabricademy (http://class.textile-academy.org)
- PRUSA Mk3s
- Silicone

Process and workflow

Grecia and I had a pretty busy week preparing for a community focused workshop that would provide my community with an understanding of her final project 'Arakuaa.'

Arakuaa is a machine that allows generating textile fibers based on plastic bottles, it is inspired by the Guarani Isoseña culture, an ethnic group from Santa Cruz de la Sierra Bolivia. With these fibers we try to apply ancestral techniques to generate fashion. Working with this new way of recycling plastic bottles will open a world of possibilities in their possible applications in fashion.

Workshop participants were in complete awe of Grecia's story and the journey that brought Arakuaa to reality. Many participants asked for more information on her, Arakuaa, and becoming a part of Fabricademy. It was a joy to watch and I am grateful for the opportunity to expose my community to her work.

We continued our work together during her visit by her exploring soft robotics together. Grecia spent hours setting up a mini 3D print farm and then tested their capacity by introducing me to the 3D Printed Soft Gripper. The machines in the mini farm are very old machines so we did experience quite a few hiccups. In many cases the filament was too old or had succumbed to elemental changes. Due to these factors, some of the portions of the 3D print were printed on older machines, while others were printed on the newer Prusa MK3s.

3d Printed Pieces

The Model

This model 1 was provided to me by Grecia during her visit to the FVSU Fab Lab.

We began by downloading the file and testing it's success using the 'outdated' printers. After making adjustments we were finally able to successfully print one of the sides of the gripper.

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Printing Parts & Pouring Silicone

Unfortunately, upon inspection of the silicone that was within the lab's inventory it was discovered that all of the silicone was outdated and had become solid. Because of this, I was no able to complete the pouring process with Grecia. I also discovered that I would not be able to complete the other pieces of the gripper utilizing the older model 3D printers and completed the creation of the other pieces using the Prusa MK3s. I also had to order more silicone from Amazon and await it's arrival.

3d Printed Piece Red 3d Printed Pieces Black New Silicone

Once I recieved the silicone and had all of the pieces required to complete the gripper, I proceeded as follows.

  • Step 1
  • Step 2
  • Step 3
  • Step 4
  • Step 5

Final Assembly and Results

I began by assemblying the silicone pieces and attaching the 3d printed parts successfully.

  • Notes on Assembly
  • Notes on Results 1
  • Notes on Results 2

3D Models

upload the 3d models of MakeHuman, Final 3d modelled body, 3D Scans, etc

Dita's Gown by Francis Bitonti Studio on Sketchfab

Results

Video

From Vimeo

Sound Waves from George Gally (Radarboy) on Vimeo.

From Youtube

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Fabrication files

  1. File: xxx ↩

  2. File: xxx ↩