Tag Archives: Soft Robotics

Softer Side of Robots is Future of Space Suits

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What will next generation space suits look like? Kari Love is making the case that new space suits will exhibit the best in soft robot technology. The problem is that most people don’t really understand much about soft robots, or about space for that matter. Her talk at the Hackaday SuperConference explores the research she has been doing into future generations of space suits. Check out the video below and then join us after the break for more on this topic.

I’ll be honest, I haven’t been very excited about soft robotics. Kari Love is right when starting her talk …read more

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Building Pneumatic Actuators With 3D Printed Molds

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Pneumatic actuators offer interesting perspectives in applications like soft robotics and interaction design. [Aidan Leitch] makes his own pneumatic actuators from silicone rubber. His actuators contain embedded air channels that can be filled with pressurized air and completely collapse to a flat sheet when no pressure is applied.

The process is based on the research work of Kevin C. Galloway et al. on “Zero Volume Air Chambers”. The team found that they could pour a thin layer of silicone rubber into a flat mold, then selectively apply a pattern of mold release to the surface of the cured layer using …read more

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