Soft robots and actuators are emerging devices providing more capabilities in the field of robotics. More flexibility and compliance attributing to soft functional materials used in the fabrication of these devices make them ideal for delivering delicate tasks in fragile environments, such as food and biomedical sectors. Yet, the intuitive nonlinearity of soft functional materials and their anisotropic actuation in compliant mechanisms constitute an existent challenge in improving their performance. Topology optimization (TO) along with four-dimensional (4D) printing is a powerful digital tool that can be used to obtain optimal internal architectures for the efficient performance of porous soft actuators. This paper employs TO analysis for achieving high bending deflection of a 3D printed polyelectrolyte actuator, which shows bending deformations in response to electrical stimuli in an electrolyte solution. The performance of the actuator is studied in terms of maximum bending and actuation rate compared with a solid, uniformly 3D printed and topology-optimized actuator. The experimental results proved the effectiveness of TO on achieving higher bending deformation and actuation rate against a uniformly 3D printed actuator.

中文翻译：

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拓扑优化的软执行器4D打印

软机器人和执行器是新兴的设备，可在机器人领域提供更多功能。这些设备的制造中使用的软功能材料具有更大的灵活性和顺应性，使其非常适合在脆弱的环境（例如食品和生物医学领域）中执行精细任务。然而，软功能材料的直观非线性及其在顺应性机构中的各向异性致动对提高其性能构成了挑战。拓扑优化（TO）和四维（4D）打印是一种功能强大的数字工具，可用于获取优化的内部体系结构，以实现多孔软致动器的高效性能。本文采用TO分析来实现3D打印聚电解质执行器的高弯曲挠度，其显示了响应于电解质溶液中的电刺激的弯曲变形。与固态，均匀3D打印且拓扑优化的致动器相比，致动器的性能是根据最大弯曲和致动速率进行研究的。实验结果证明了TO相对于均匀的3D打印致动器具有更高的弯曲变形和致动速率的有效性。