Material Selection and Fused Filament Fabrication Techniques for 3D Printed Tendon-Driven Soft Robots
摘要
In this paper, we discuss commercially available flexible materials, design solutions, and manufacturing parameters to print tendon-driven soft robots. Easily accessible flexible filaments are selected and used to manufacture a standardized set of tendon-driven continuum robot designs to allow a faster and easier material selection for soft designs. Manufacturing challenges and print quality are reported and discussed for each material tested, and the behavior of the prototypes is then tested by loading tendons with a motor, experimentally mapping the relationship between loading and bending angle. Finally, we highlight the materials with better performance as well as indications on their optimal printing parameters and manufacturing limitations.