Hydraulic Robot Created From A Single 3D Print

MIT Scientists Created a Working Hydraulic Robot from a Single 3D Print (+Video)

Mike Murphy | April 6, 2016

We’re getting to the point we’re 3D printing is slowly becoming useful. Earlier this week, Stratasys, the largest 3D printer manufacturer, showed off new technology that can print full objects in one go, without any assembly required.
Today (April 6), researchers at MIT’s CSAIL computer science lab announced that they can print working robots on one 3D printer, from a single print. The robots, which need to be hooked up to a battery source, are made up of solid and liquid parts, which could have big implications on how we design robots to interact with humans in the future.

This 3-D hexapod robot moves via a single motor, which spins a crankshaft that pumps fluid to the robot’s legs. Besides the motor and battery, every component is printed in a single step with no assembly required. Among the robot’s key parts are several sets of “bellows” 3-D printed directly into its body. To propel the robot, the bellows uses fluid pressure that is translated into a mechanical force. (As an alternative to the bellows, the team also demonstrated they could 3-D print a gear pump that can produce continuous fluid flow.)  Source: http://news.mit.edu/2016/first-3d-printed-robots-made-of-both-solids-and-liquids-0406

<more at http://qz.com/655504/mit-scientists-created-a-working-hydraulic-robot-from-a-single-3d-print/; related articles and links: http://qz.com/654180/were-closer-to-a-future-where-we-can-3d-print-anything/ (We’re closer to a future where we can 3D print anything. April 4, 2016) and http://news.mit.edu/2016/first-3d-printed-robots-made-of-both-solids-and-liquids-0406 (First-ever 3-D printed robots made of both solids and liquids. System from Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab 3-D prints hydraulically-powered robot bodies, with no assembly required. April 6, 2016)>