3D printable fluidic circuits

We have developed a series of fluidic devices that can compute and store information. Tube balloon logic [21] and buckling sheet logic [23] implement pMOS-type switches; they prevent flow (Q,I) when an effort (P,V) is applied. The complementary tube balloon logic [25] and soft bistable valve [12] implement CMOS-type switches; they switch two flows (one flow on and one flow off) when an effort is applied. The bistable valve valve can be used as non-volatile memory element when designed with a truly bistable membrane [14], as hydrostatic pressure sensor when designed with a monostable membrane [26], and as a ring oscillator when configured in series [13]. To advance fluidic circuits for soft robots, we research new device designs and fabrication strategies that allow the printing of computing elements at low-cost and without post processing. Our soft compiler is a web tool that allows the design of combinational fluidic logic from soft bistable valves [20].

3D printable stretchable electronics and sensors

We include direct ink writing into our fabrication process to dispense inks on our substrates and sensorize otherwise non-electronic elastomers.

3D printable mechanical intelligence

The robot body and its parts are designed for a target surrounding to ensure efficient locomotion in a constrained environment.

Deployment agents and strategies

The development of made-to-order robots also requires the study of deployment strategies. The deploying agents in our research group currently include ground, aerial, and ground vehicles for field tests. We started to explore a nested deployment strategy: an aerial vehicle dispatches from a ground robot to deploy 3D printed robots in the field.