Prototypes¶
Pneumatic actuator¶
The pneumatic actuator consist in a silicone tube, in which 3 air chambers are embedded for the bending control, as well as a central lumen in order to insert tools or camera inside the actuator. The different manufacturing steps, are summarized below.
Molding and casting¶
Week 13¶
I used the molding and casting week to develop a mold aimed to produce the silicone pneumatic actuators that I will be characterized with the test bench develop for my final project. I made 6 different actuators, with 3 different silicone rigidity and 2 types of pneumatic chamber shape.
The mold can be seen below, and the details of design and conception are explained in the week 13.
Connection to air supply¶
Week 5¶
In order to connect the pneumatic actuator to an air supply system without air losses, I designed during week 5 a connector that is inserted in the pneumatic actuator and have 3 others pneumatic connector for the air supply. I 3D printed it with an SLA printer during week 5 as well.
Here is a picture of the actuator and the connector togheter.
Layer jamming structure¶
The purpose of the layer jamming structure is to be able to change the overall rigidity of my pneumatic actuator. The idea is to superpose multiple layer in a membrane, and to vacuum the inside of the membrane with a vacuum pump to compress the layers togheter and change the rigidity.
The fab academy was a good opportunity to test different prototypes, and find a design that would be feasible and implementable. That’s why is also a part of my final project, because it will be characterized with the final test bench.
Design of the layer jamming structure¶
Put the description of the design here, made on Fusion 360