Credit: Yasushi Kato
Hiroshi Sugihara (JP), Shunji Yamanaka (JP), Prototyping & Design Laboratory University of Tokyo (JP)
Ready to Crawl is a project of 3D-printed organic-like robots. By printing everything except the motor as one unit, the robots are born with a completed shape like real creatures. After the robots have been printed by a selective laser sintering machine, excess nylon powder is removed, a motor is inserted, and then they start crawling.
In general, because of its lack of accuracy 3D printing is not suitable for making transmission mechanisms. However, in this project, we realized smooth, flexible movements by developing original transmission mechanisms that use 3D printing characteristics such as a complex surface and a flexible structure. These original mechanisms are combined on 3D CAD and various robots with different movements are developed. This work shows the possibility for designing motion and transmission mechanisms using 3D printing.
Credits
Designer: Hiroshi Sugihara
Project Director: Shunji Yamanaka
Collaborators: Satoshi Tanigawa, Kotaro Tanimichi, Ryuma Niiyama
