Soft 3D printed robots with a monolithically integrated artificial nervous system

材料科学的最新进展和新的制造工艺推动了电气和机械工程的范式转变。与硅片和金属框架等坚硬笨重的结构不同，人们设想了软仿生方法。新型半导体和聚合物衬底产生了柔性电子器件，这种电子器件可以不显眼地附着在生物或合成组织上，并可用于实现自然符合静态或动态三维表面的传感器系统。与此同时，3D打印和软机器人为实现机械系统提供了可能性，这些机械系统可以重新配置，并能够模拟生物的变形能力。软机器人可以与人类合作，甚至可以附着在人体上，充当外骨骼。在这个项目中，应该将这两种方法结合起来，以实现一种具有人手机械能力和感知其表面局部压力和温度的软抓手。夹持器表面的相应柔性传感器阵列应通过填充导电液体金属的微通道连接，充当合成神经系统。传感器收集的数据将被用作反馈，以控制夹爪内的气动执行器的活动。所有元素都将使用3D打印橡胶进行整体集成。这对假肢的制造和微小物体的精确操纵具有很高的兴趣，并涉及以下研究任务：-软电(传感器)和机械(支撑和执行器)结构的单片集成。-能够区分夹持器的外部压力和变形的应变传感器。-具有极端纵横比的微通道的3D打印，以及表面修改，以实现作为高度变形液体导体的共晶InGa的永久注入。-合成液体神经、传感器阵列和读出电子设备之间的接口。

Recent advances in materials science and new fabrication processes have driven a paradigm shift in electrical and mechanical engineering. Instead of rigid bulky structures such as silicon wafers and metal frames, soft biomimetic approaches are envisioned. Novel semiconductors and polymeric substrates result in flexible electronics which can be unobtrusively attached to biological or synthetic tissue and be used to realize sensor systems which naturally conform to static or dynamic three-dimensional surfaces. At the same time, 3D printing and soft robots offer the possibility to realize mechanical systems which are reconfigurable and able to mimic the deformability of living organisms. Soft robots can collaborate with humans and even be attached to the human body acting as exoskeletons. In this project, both approaches should be combined to realize a soft gripper with the mechanical capabilities of a human hand and the ability to sense local pressure and temperature on its surface. Arrays of corresponding flexible sensors on the gripper's surface should be connected by microchannels filled with conductive liquid metal, acting as a synthetic nervous system. The data collected by the sensors will be used as feedback to control the activity of pneumatic actuators inside the gripper. All elements will be monolithically integrated using 3D printed rubber. This is of high interest for the fabrication of artificial limbs and the precise manipulation of small objects, and involves the following research tasks:- Monolithic integration of soft electrical (sensors) and mechanical (support and actuators) structures.- Strain sensors able to distinguish between external pressure and deformation of the gripper.- 3D printing of micro channels with extreme aspect ratios, and surface modification to enable the permanent injection of eutectic InGa, acting as highly deformable liquid conductor.- Interface between synthetic liquid nerves, sensor arrays, and readout electronics.