Design Of Mask Projection Stereolithography 3D Printer For Soft Robotics

With the development of society,traditional robotics gradually exposed the disadvantages of limited use scene and low safety.However,soft robotics have gradually become an emerging field due to their advantages of continuous deformation capability,infinite freedoms,strong adaptability to irregular environment,high safety and so on.Since the current technology of the soft robotics is still mainly based on empirical processes,the manufacturing technology of the soft robotics is one of the keys to its development.Among many manufacturing technologies for soft robotics,3D printing stands out by its ability to produce complex structures with high efficiency and simple procedures.In this paper,we focus on fabricating soft robotics using mask projection stereolithography 3D printing technique.A desktop 3D printer is built up based on this approach.The overall design,composition,assembly and debug of the printer are detailed.According to the problems in the experiment of soft robotics manufacturing,the paper analyzes the factors which influence the printing process,puts forward the suitable solutions,analyzes the factors that affect the printing accuracy,and puts forward the corresponding improvement measures.Finally,according to the setting problem of the printing parameters for new material,we determine the appropriate parameter range through experiments.According to the problems of initial gap adjustment and separation force detection between the printing platform and the resin tank,a flexible force feedback device is introduced to adjust the initial gap between the tank bottom and the platform of the printer and detect the separation force between them.The separation force is detected on real-time based on Labview.The method of measuring the solidification separation force by measuring the uncured separation force is proposed.The relationship between the curing separation force and each printing parameter is analyzed experimentally.A closed-loop control method of initial gap adjustment based on force feedback is proposed.The digital control system is built up based on Labview.The control parameters of the initial gap adjustment system are optimized through experiments.The precision of the control system is analyzed and experimentally tested.First of all,we verify the printing performance of the 3D printer experimentally,and then use the equipment to print the soft actuator with the rubber-like material and to realize the 4D printing function with the shape memory polymer.The printing experiments of soft robotics confirmed: mask projection stereolithography used in the field of soft robotics manufacturing has great practical significance and potential.