One of the many secrets to the success and prevalence of insects is their versatile, robust, and complex exoskeleton morphology. A fundamental challenge in insect-inspired robotics has been the fabrication of robotic exoskeletons that can match the complexity of exoskeleton structural mechanics. Hybrid robots composed of rigid and soft elements have previously required access to expensive multi-material three-dimensional (3D) printers, multistep casting and machining processes, or limited material choice when using consumer-grade fabrication methods. In this study, we introduce a new design and fabrication process to rapidly construct flexible exoskeleton-inspired robots called “flexoskeleton printing.” We modify a consumer-grade fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printer to deposit filament directly onto a heated thermoplastic base layer, which provides extremely strong bond strength between deposited material and the inextensible, flexible base layer. This process significantly improves the fatigue resistance of printed components and enables a new class of insect-inspired robot morphologies. We demonstrate these capabilities through design and testing of a wide library of canonical flexoskeleton elements; ultimately leading to the integration of elements into a flexoskeleton walking legged robot.

中文翻译：

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柔性骨架打印使混合软硬机器人的多功能制造成为可能

昆虫成功和流行的众多秘诀之一是它们的多功能、健壮和复杂的外骨骼形态。受昆虫启发的机器人技术的一个基本挑战是制造可以匹配外骨骼结构力学复杂性的机器人外骨骼。由刚性和软元件组成的混合机器人以前需要使用昂贵的多材料三维 (3D) 打印机、多步铸造和加工工艺，或者在使用消费级制造方法时需要有限的材料选择。在这项研究中，我们引入了一种新的设计和制造工艺，以快速构建柔性外骨骼机器人，称为“柔性骨骼打印”。我们修改了消费级熔融沉积成型 (FDM) 3D 打印机，将细丝直接沉积到加热的热塑性基层上，它在沉积材料和不可延伸的柔性基层之间提供了极强的粘合强度。这一过程显着提高了印刷组件的抗疲劳性，并实现了一种新型的昆虫机器人形态。我们通过设计和测试广泛的规范柔性骨骼元素库来展示这些功能；最终导致将元素集成到一个柔性骨骼步行腿机器人中。