Soft Robotic Manipulation and Locomotion with a 3D Printed Electroactive Hydrogel

Daehoon Han, Cindy Farino, Chen Yang, Tracy Scott, Daniel Browe, Wonjoon Choi, Joseph W. Freeman, Howon Lee

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    303 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Electroactive hydrogels (EAH) that exhibit large deformation in response to an electric field have received great attention as a potential actuating material for soft robots and artificial muscle. However, their application has been limited due to the use of traditional two-dimensional (2D) fabrication methods. Here we present soft robotic manipulation and locomotion with 3D printed EAH microstructures. Through 3D design and precise dimensional control enabled by a digital light processing (DLP) based micro 3D printing technique, complex 3D actuations of EAH are achieved. We demonstrate soft robotic actuations including gripping and transporting an object and a bidirectional locomotion.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)17512-17518
    Number of pages7
    JournalACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
    Volume10
    Issue number21
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2018 May 30

    Bibliographical note

    Funding Information:
    The authors gratefully acknowledge the support from Rutgers University through the School of Engineering and the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. The authors also acknowledge the support from Defense Acquisition Program Administration and Agency for Defense Development (UD150032GD) and the National Science Foundation program for Electronics, Photonics, and Magnetic Devices (1408202).

    Publisher Copyright:
    Copyright © 2018 American Chemical Society.

    Keywords

    • 3D printing
    • electroactive hydrogel
    • projection microstereolithography
    • soft actuator
    • soft robotics

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • General Materials Science

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