Stanford AA289/ENGR319 - Robotics and Autonomous Systems Seminar - Stanford Seminar - Multimaterial Design for Multifunctional Miniature Robots

April 14, 2023 Zhenish Zhakypov of Stanford University Small-scale animals like trap-jaw ants exhibit remarkable behaviors, not just through communication, but also via their adaptable jaw-jump and leg-jump mechanisms that enable them to thrive in diverse environments. These creatures have successfully tackled the challenges of miniaturization, multifunctionality, and multiplicity, which are critical factors in the development of small-scale robotic systems. By creating these abilities in mesoscale robots, we can unlock a vast array of applications. For instance, we could build artificial multi-locomotion swarms to explore and monitor diverse physical environments with high task efficiency or design compact and distributed haptic actuators to simulate compelling human touch interactions in virtual environments with high fidelity and minimal encumbrance. However, conventional design methods for creating miniature yet multifunctional robots are limited due to constraints in downsizing classical electric motors, transmission gears, and mechanisms. Additionally, increasing the number of components requires meticulous manual assembly processes. In this talk, I will delve into how multimaterial layer composition and folding (origami robotics) and 3D printing can enable miniature, multifunctional, and mass-manufacturable robots. I will provide insights into a systematic design methodology that breaks down mesoscale robot design in terms of mechanisms, geometry, materials, and fabrication, highlighting their relation and challenges. I will demonstrate unique robotic platforms built on this paradigm, including Tribots, 10-gram palm-sized multi-locomotion origami robots that jump, roll, and crawl to traverse uneven terrains and manipulate objects collectively, as well as shape-morphing grippers and structures. These robots use functional materials like shape memory alloy and fluids to achieve tunable power, compact actuators, and mechanisms. Additionally, I will present my latest research on monolithically 3D-printed, soft finger and wrist-worn haptic displays called FingerPrint and Hoxels. FingerPrint produces 4-DoF motion on the finger pad and phalanges with tunable forces and torques for skin shear, pressure, and vibrotactile interaction and can be mass-printed requiring. 0:00 Introduction 0:41 Small-Scale Design in Nature 3:09 Robot Design Across Scales 6:00 Multi-Locomotion Robots 6:59 Design Approaches 9:42 Tribot, a Multi-Locomotion Millirobot 13:11 Tribot Design & Assembly 14:14 Tribot's Performance 15:33 Tribot Prototypes 16:56 Robotic Origami Design Versatility 17:38 Multi-Layer Design & Fabrication Process 18:09 Foldable Composite Robot Design Methodology 20:11 Design Paradigm 20:48 Functional Material Actuators & Mechanisms 22:01 Variable Power Actuation - Linear Coil Shape Memory Alloy 24:17 High Torque Actuation - Bending Sheet Shape Memory Alloy 27:27 Implementation: Reconfigurable Grippers 29:16 High Speed Distributed Actuation - Pneumatic 31:15 Summary 31:32 Fingertip Haptic Interfaces 34:26 FingerPrint: A Fully 3D-Printed Haptic Device 36:03 FingerPrint Design 36:36 FingerPrint's Origami Mechanism