Realization of soft mechanism by distributed viscoelasticity values

-1st report: Realization of 3-DOF joint by combination of soft/rigid elements-

Abstract

Various types of soft pneumatic actuator have been developed. However, most of these designs are limited because they are made by molding. A Stratasys 3D printer can print soft and hard material accurately at the desired positions and we can make complex structures that are difficult to make by molding. This advantage can distribute viscoelastic elements to suitable positions. Basing on this idea, we design 3-DOF actuator in this paper. We demonstrate validity of the design methodology through some experimental results.