MIT’s New Robot Can Walk Out Of 3D Printer

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In a world-first, MIT has 3D printed robots: solids, liquids, hydraulics, and all. This impressive success could hasten the age of affordable robotics, as one of the hurdles facing the spread of advanced machines is that making them is actually quite hard. Assembling them by hand is time consuming and expensive, while automated processes are not advanced enough for the task.

Researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) presented their work in a new paper that discusses the groundbreaking technique for 3D printing with both solid and liquid materials at the same time.

This technique allows for 3D printing robots in a single step using commercially available 3D printers, greatly simplifying the process.

“Our approach, which we call ‘printable hydraulics,’ is a step towards the rapid fabrication of functional machines,” says CSAIL Director Daniela Rus. “All you have to do is stick in a battery and motor, and you have a robot that can practically walk right out of the printer.”

To demonstrate the viability of their approach, the team 3D printed a tiny six-legged robot that has 12 hydraulic pumps embedded in its body that allow it to crawl around. It weighs less than 700g and is under 15.5cm long.

To get it moving, all the team had to do is add a single DC motor to spin the crankshaft that moves liquid into the robot’s. Everything, except for the motor and power supply, was printed in a single step.

“The CSAIL team has taken multi-material printing to the next level by printing not just a combination of different polymers or a mixture of metals, but essentially a self-contained working hydraulic system,” says Hod Lipson, a professor of engineering at Columbia University. “It’s an important step towards the next big phase of 3-D printing — moving from printing passive parts to printing active integrated systems.”