Fully 3D Micro, Biocompatible, Soft actuator Using 3D-Printed Soluble Mold

Abstract

Unibody micro pneumatic bellow actuators made of biocompatible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) were fabricated by three-dimensional (3D) soluble printed molds and demonstrated experimentally. The 3D printed soluble molding method for micro structures presented here provides additional freedom in the design, eliminating the limitation of extruded 2D geometry in existing microfabrication. Static displacement (exceeding 1500 μm from a 1240 μm long soft body) and the mechanical force (~0.15 N) of the fabricated micro soft actuators were tested and compared with analytical models. Feasibility of the design flexibility and fast prototyping enabled by the 3D printed molding process was also validated by testing various designs of micro soft actuators. In addition, it was confirmed that even after 5,000 repetitive operations, only negligible performance degradation occurred.