A 3D printing-enabled artificially innervated smart soft gripper with variable joint stiffness
The manufacturing industry has witnessed advancements in soft robotics, specifically in robotic grippers for handling fragile or irregular objects. However, challenges remain in balancing shape compliance, structural rigidity, weight, and sensor integration. To address these limitations, a 3D-printe...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2024
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/173318 |
| _version_ | 1826111206593658880 |
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| author | Goh, Guo Liang Goh, Guo Dong Nguyen, Van Pho Toh, William Lee, Samuel Li, Xin Sunil, Bohra Dhyan Lim, Jian Yee Li, Zhengchen Sinha, Anoop Kumar Yeong, Wai Yee Campolo, Domenico Chow, Wai Tuck Ng, Teng Yong Han, Boon Siew |
| author2 | School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering |
| author_facet | School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Goh, Guo Liang Goh, Guo Dong Nguyen, Van Pho Toh, William Lee, Samuel Li, Xin Sunil, Bohra Dhyan Lim, Jian Yee Li, Zhengchen Sinha, Anoop Kumar Yeong, Wai Yee Campolo, Domenico Chow, Wai Tuck Ng, Teng Yong Han, Boon Siew |
| author_sort | Goh, Guo Liang |
| collection | NTU |
| description | The manufacturing industry has witnessed advancements in soft robotics, specifically in robotic grippers for handling fragile or irregular objects. However, challenges remain in balancing shape compliance, structural rigidity, weight, and sensor integration. To address these limitations, a 3D-printed multimaterial gripper design is proposed. This approach utilizes a single, nearly fully automated 3D printing process to create a universal gripper with almost no assembly work. By processing functional polymer, polymer nanocomposite, and metal wire simultaneously, this technique enables multifunctionality. The gripper achieves different gripping configurations by adjusting joint stiffness through Joule heating of conductive polylactic acid material, ensuring shape conformance. Embedded metal wires, created using an in-house wire embedding technique, form reliable high-current-loading interconnections for the conductive joints acting as the heater. Additionally, an integrated soft sensor printed in thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and conductive TPU detects compression levels and discerns handled samples. This study showcases the potential of 3D multimaterial printing for on-demand fabrication of a smart universal gripper with variable stiffness and integrated sensors, benefiting the automation industry. Overall, this work presents an effective strategy for designing and fabricating integrated multifunctional structures using soft, rigid, and conductive materials, such as polymer, polymer nanocomposite, and metal through multimaterial 3D printing. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T02:46:52Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/173318 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T02:46:52Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1733182024-01-24T02:54:39Z A 3D printing-enabled artificially innervated smart soft gripper with variable joint stiffness Goh, Guo Liang Goh, Guo Dong Nguyen, Van Pho Toh, William Lee, Samuel Li, Xin Sunil, Bohra Dhyan Lim, Jian Yee Li, Zhengchen Sinha, Anoop Kumar Yeong, Wai Yee Campolo, Domenico Chow, Wai Tuck Ng, Teng Yong Han, Boon Siew School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Schaeffler Hub for Advanced REsearch (SHARE) Lab Singapore Centre for 3D Printing Engineering::Mechanical engineering Multifunctional Structures Soft Grippers The manufacturing industry has witnessed advancements in soft robotics, specifically in robotic grippers for handling fragile or irregular objects. However, challenges remain in balancing shape compliance, structural rigidity, weight, and sensor integration. To address these limitations, a 3D-printed multimaterial gripper design is proposed. This approach utilizes a single, nearly fully automated 3D printing process to create a universal gripper with almost no assembly work. By processing functional polymer, polymer nanocomposite, and metal wire simultaneously, this technique enables multifunctionality. The gripper achieves different gripping configurations by adjusting joint stiffness through Joule heating of conductive polylactic acid material, ensuring shape conformance. Embedded metal wires, created using an in-house wire embedding technique, form reliable high-current-loading interconnections for the conductive joints acting as the heater. Additionally, an integrated soft sensor printed in thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and conductive TPU detects compression levels and discerns handled samples. This study showcases the potential of 3D multimaterial printing for on-demand fabrication of a smart universal gripper with variable stiffness and integrated sensors, benefiting the automation industry. Overall, this work presents an effective strategy for designing and fabricating integrated multifunctional structures using soft, rigid, and conductive materials, such as polymer, polymer nanocomposite, and metal through multimaterial 3D printing. Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Nanyang Technological University This research was supported by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research(A*STAR) under its IAF-ICP Programme Grant No. I2001E0067 and the Schaeffler Hub for Advanced Research at NTU. 2024-01-24T02:54:39Z 2024-01-24T02:54:39Z 2023 Journal Article Goh, G. L., Goh, G. D., Nguyen, V. P., Toh, W., Lee, S., Li, X., Sunil, B. D., Lim, J. Y., Li, Z., Sinha, A. K., Yeong, W. Y., Campolo, D., Chow, W. T., Ng, T. Y. & Han, B. S. (2023). A 3D printing-enabled artificially innervated smart soft gripper with variable joint stiffness. Advanced Materials Technologies, 8(24), 2301426-. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/admt.202301426 2365-709X https://hdl.handle.net/10356/173318 10.1002/admt.202301426 2-s2.0-85174185556 24 8 2301426 en I2001E0067 Advanced Materials Technologies © 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH. All rights reserved. |
| spellingShingle | Engineering::Mechanical engineering Multifunctional Structures Soft Grippers Goh, Guo Liang Goh, Guo Dong Nguyen, Van Pho Toh, William Lee, Samuel Li, Xin Sunil, Bohra Dhyan Lim, Jian Yee Li, Zhengchen Sinha, Anoop Kumar Yeong, Wai Yee Campolo, Domenico Chow, Wai Tuck Ng, Teng Yong Han, Boon Siew A 3D printing-enabled artificially innervated smart soft gripper with variable joint stiffness |
| title | A 3D printing-enabled artificially innervated smart soft gripper with variable joint stiffness |
| title_full | A 3D printing-enabled artificially innervated smart soft gripper with variable joint stiffness |
| title_fullStr | A 3D printing-enabled artificially innervated smart soft gripper with variable joint stiffness |
| title_full_unstemmed | A 3D printing-enabled artificially innervated smart soft gripper with variable joint stiffness |
| title_short | A 3D printing-enabled artificially innervated smart soft gripper with variable joint stiffness |
| title_sort | 3d printing enabled artificially innervated smart soft gripper with variable joint stiffness |
| topic | Engineering::Mechanical engineering Multifunctional Structures Soft Grippers |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/173318 |
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