This robot arm and gripper is made almost entirely out of silicone. Casting the parts by hand, [Mike] assembled this working, remote controlled robot arm gripper.
We’ll let that sink in for a minute. He turned an oversized tooth-paste tube of silicone caulking… into a pneumatic robotic arm. Holy cow. We’ve seen lots of soft robotics before, but this is some really cool stuff!
You see, [Mike] is actually planning on building an inexpensive prosthetic robot hand using this technology. This was merely a test to see how well he could make silicone based air muscles — we’d say it was pretty successful! Each silicone disk in this robotic appendage has four sealed pockets inside of it. When air flows in through them, they inflate, causing the entire appendage to stretch on one side. With four of these, and varying amounts of pressure, it’s possible to move the appendage in any direction!
Just take a look at the following demo:
To control it he has also built his own pneumatic control bank using Picaxe microcontrollers — he also has a fantastic Instructable explaining how to make it as well.
[Thanks Mozirilla!]
Anyone else thinking of the original robot from “Lost In Space” ?
No Will Robinson!
Fire at will!
This is great! I want to build one. I wonder what material properties the corn starch adds to the silicone.
Cures faster, and can cure without exposure to air
corn starch helps the silicon cure from the inside even when there is no air… This is useful when it is in a mold.
Oh, I nearly forgot… It also make it more like a putty so it is easier to work with by hand. Google “oogoo” for more info.
Welp, now if I ever lose an arm I’m going to make my prosthetic hydraulic.
It looks a bit drunk
It seems to handle like a semi-erect penis.
This is a great design, would love to do something similar.
reminds me a bit of festo’s pneumatic arms, well done.