3D Printing Insect Like "Flexible Robot" Experts Say It Will Speed Up Scientific Research In All Fields.

3D printing is constantly breaking new ground.

Recently, there were reports that researchers at University of California at San Diego used 3D printing technology to create a flexible robot. The whole printing process is simple and fast. Using this method, we can use 3D printers to realize the manufacture of flexible robots similar to insects.

One of the most important technological breakthroughs is that 3D prints flexible skeletons. Flexible frameworks are very different from traditional flexible robots. They will enhance stiffness in specific areas, just like insect structures, while conventional flexible robots generally attach only flexible materials to solids. It is reported that a fully assembled insect like flexible robot consists of several flexible skeletons. Each skeleton assembly takes about 10 minutes to print, and in less than two hours, a finished product can be printed and assembled.

It is worth noting that this technology will greatly reduce costs. The 3D print cost of its single component is less than 1 US dollars. Besides, the most expensive component is to process power, sensors and batteries. In an interview with the economic news reporters in twenty-first Century, researchers in the field of science think that this new 3D printing technology will help speed up the progress of scientific research in all fields. "If there is no 3D printing, in the process of experiment, we need to find suitable parts for ourselves. If you want to adopt a special method of customization, the cost is very high, absolutely far more than 1 dollars. "

Promoting bionic development

In recent years, 3D printing technology has become mature as a rapid prototyping technology. The technology uses the digital three-dimensional model as the blueprint and the digital technology material printer to realize the printing of articles by layer. At present, many enterprises have begun to use parts produced by 3D printing technology, and are widely used in automotive, aviation, dental, medical and other major areas.

It is understood that 3D printing flexible skeleton, its main method is to rigid materials, printed on soft thin polycarbonate plate to make. The development of 3D printing technology can greatly improve the research progress in bionic field, such as making snake snake flexible robots. Snake like flexible robots can be applied to the investigation of complex terrain or multi-layer and multi slot terrain. In high-risk complex terrain and scenes, such as collapse after earthquake, search and rescue of floors can play a role.

Taking the flexible insect robot as an example, because dragonfly's wing texture is complex, it has excellent flight performance and maneuverability. 3D can print out and simulate dragonfly wing's structure, and can deeply study the aerodynamic theory of micro air vehicles. Previously, Professor Zhang Sheng and his team at the Ningbo Research Institute of Zhejiang University studied the important structure of dragonfly wings as a research object through visualization methods in wind tunnel experiments.

Through the 3D printing technology, three kinds of dragonfly wings with pulse structure are made: open node structure, closed node structure (with limited bending device) and rigid wing. A high-speed camera is used to visualize the deformation of the wing structure in the wind tunnel, and the effect of the structural wing on the gliding flight is studied. Through experiments, we know the degree of flexibility of the joints to the wing structure. In addition, the closed joint wing (band restraint) makes the vein structure flexible without losing the strength and stiffness of the joint.

Dragonflies are known as "flying men" in nature, even if they can still keep balance in the storm and rain, whether they are gliding or flying wings. Using 3D to print insect flexible robots, we can better control the extreme conditions of aircraft under extreme conditions, such as extreme weather such as strong winds and heavy rain. By learning and bionic dragonfly wings, we can create better flying wings, which is very helpful for the development of micro air vehicles. Professor Zhang Sheng told reporters on twenty-first Century economic report.

Lower use cost

3D printing technology is not only widely used in various manufacturing industries, but also has the advantages of simple technology, low cost and rapid prototyping. The time-consuming and laborious experimental materials can more conveniently print through 3D technology and greatly accelerate the research speed in all fields of scientific research.

The printing method of the flexible robot does not require any special equipment. It only needs a few minutes to create a soft and flexible 3D printing robot. Instead of adding soft materials to rigid robot bodies, the researchers started with soft subjects and added rigid features to key components. These structures are inspired by the bones of insects, which have soft parts and rigid parts.

With this technology, with very little manual assembly, large flexible skeleton robots can be built, and parts library similar to Lego can be built to replace robot parts easily. At the same time, 3D printing technology will also produce some interdisciplinary disciplines which are specially combined with 3D printing technology.

In the past, 3D printing technology was also applied to simulate skin research. Professor Ceng Xiangqiong and her team, who are in the Shanghai Academy of higher learning of Chinese Academy of Sciences, have designed a new piezoresistive skin sensor to simulate the texture and sensitivity of human skin. This is a new material composed of cross-linked polymethylmethoxy siloxane microspheres (MPs), which are distributed on the surface of carbon nanotubes, and printed by 3D.

The electronic skin made of these sensors is similar to that of the human skin. In addition, it will undergo elastic deformation under external forces. By simulating the contact behavior of human skin, the response of electronic skin to shear force is studied. It is found that tactile sensor has high sensitivity to applied shear force, and has the advantages of short response time, high durability and strong flexibility.

According to the aforementioned researchers, the mechanical properties of electronic skin are similar to those of human skin, so the developed electronic skin can be worn on the real skin and adapt to skin related strain related to movement. It is expected that 3D printing flexible tactile sensors can be used in various engineering applications, such as skin patch sensor networks and implantable biomedical devices. "In the future work, we will systematically study the sensing and Tribological Properties of different microstructural devices, as well as the miniaturization and scalability design of devices."

However, new technologies such as automatic driving, 3D printing, or quantum computing are still waiting for a breakthrough at the consumer level. With the development of 5G and the opening of industrial Internet, 3D printing technology is expected to land in more scenes.

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