3D Printable Origami-Inspired Pneumatic Soft Actuator with Modularized Design

Pneumatic soft actuators are widely used in various applications. Recent years, pneumatic origami actuators were studied intensively because of the advantages of high energy efficiency, large deformation, and rich deformation patterns. However, the fabrication of pneumatic driven origami-based soft robot is a challenging task, in which air leakage can result in disfunction of the robots. In this paper, we propose an alterative approach to fabricate pneumatic origami structure using an industrial 3D printer which is capable of 3D printing liquid silicone rubber (LSR). We took the Kresling pattern as an example and explored the essential parameters of printer setting. We directly printed the 3D folded structure (origami-inspired structure) instead of 2D folding to simplify the fabrication process. In addition, to maximize the design freedom, we propose modularized design of the origami-inspired actuator. After fabricating the basic modules, robots can be freely assembled according to different applications. Finite element simulations and experiments were conducted to characterize the basic modules in terms of deformation, rotation angle, and generated force. Finally, a robotic gripper were developed using the basic modules and grasping experiments were conducted to prove the concept of modularization.