ADELPHI, MD. — New 3-D printed robotic structures can squeeze in tight spaces like a crack in the wall of a cave, jump over trip wire or crawl under a vehicle — all complex Army-relevant functions impossible for humans to perform safely.
Investigators at the Army’s Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies, located at MIT, have developed a 3-D printing platform that can enable both the modeling and design of complex magnetically actuated devices. The new approach utilizes a 3-D printing platform fitted with an electromagnet nozzle and a new type of 3-D printable ink infused with magnetic particles. Their findings could lead to new biomedical applications, magnetic ink optimized to strengthen soft robotic functionality, and new on-demand flexible material systems for integration into Soldier systems.
