3D Printed Soft Robotic Actuator With Embedded Strain Sensing For Position Estimation

Abstract

This work shows the development and characterization of a fully 3D printed pneumatic soft robotic actuator with embedded strain gauges to estimate the bending angle of the actuator. The actuator was printed in one go using a multi material Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) printer. By taking the difference of the reading of two integrated strain gauges, printed using carbon doped TPU, a strong linear relation <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$(R^{2}=0.97)$</tex> between the bending angle and sensor output is achieved.