We present a manufacturing process for creating centimeter-scale multichambered inflatable robots and structures that can include both soft and rigid components. Our process uses a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) adhesive film to bond together layers of textiles, plastics, or other materials. The structures are heated and compressed a few layers at a time with a heat press machine or bonded in an oven all at once. We present two methods for arranging textiles and thermal adhesive film to achieve airtight structures and perform modeling and measurements on the resulting inflatable chambers. We characterize the set of textiles and rigid materials that will work with this process, measuring how strongly the TPU film bonds with them. We also describe how to include corners, where several pieces of material come together at a point, and determine which corner constructions are airtight. We characterize how different seam widths behave, determine the maximum pressure chambers fabricated with this process can support, and determine the cycle life of actuators built with this process. Finally, we present an actuator with an embedded sensor and three examples of robots constructed with textiles and TPU film, including a hybrid soft/rigid robotic arm, a soft robot that can roll along the ground, and a robot that can climb inside tubes or other confined spaces.

中文翻译：

---

软硬混合机器人的分层制造方法。

我们提出了一种制造过程，用于创建厘米级的多室可充气机器人和可同时包含软性和刚性组件的结构。我们的过程使用热塑性聚氨酯（TPU）粘合膜将纺织品，塑料或其他材料的层粘合在一起。使用热压机一次将结构加热并压缩几层，或一次将其粘合在烤箱中。我们介绍了两种安排纺织品和热粘合膜的方法，以实现气密性结构，并对所得的充气室进行建模和测量。我们确定了将在此过程中使用的一组纺织品和刚性材料的特征，并测量了TPU薄膜与它们粘合的强度。我们还描述了如何包括拐角，在拐角处几块材料汇合在一起，并确定哪些角落结构是气密的。我们表征了不同接缝宽度的行为方式，确定了使用此工艺制造的最大压力腔室可以承受的压力，并确定了使用此工艺制造的执行器的循环寿命。最后，我们介绍了一个带有嵌入式传感器的执行器，以及三个由纺织品和TPU薄膜构成的机器人示例，包括混合式软/硬机器人臂，可沿地面滚动的软机器人以及可在管或管内爬升的机器人。其他密闭空间。