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A Fabrication Free, 3D Printed, Multi-Material, Self-Sensing Soft Actuator
T Hainsworth, L Smith, S Alexander, R MacCurdy
IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters 5 (3), 4118-4125

Highlights

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  • An entirely print-in-place actuator with integrated sensor

  • A comparison of the actuator's performance compared to past work (Figure 3)

  • A FEA comparison to traditional work (Figure 4)

  • Detailed print profiles (Table II)

  • Analysis of actuator and sensor's performance and sensitivity (Figure 8 - 11)

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Complex Design â€‹

  • The highlighted complex design would be difficult to manufacture with traditional methods, but is easy to make with additive manufacturing.

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Comparing with Previous Work

  • The design design nicely balances blocked force with maximum deflection.

  • Analysis shows that the actuator loses less energy to unnecessary expansion when compared to traditional designs

Sensor Analysis

  • The sensor can not only detect bending, but can also sense contact.

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