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You can print anything... or can you? 3D printing is an exciting new technology that promises to very quickly create anything people can design. Scientists who want to make soft robots, like Baymax from Big Hero 6^TM, are excited about 3D printers. Our team uses 3D printing to make molds to produce soft robots. Molding is like using a muffin tin to make cupcakes. But can you make anything with 3D printing or are there times when 3D-printed molds do not work? Just like a cupcake liner, 3D-printed molds leave ridges, like a Ruffles potato chip, in soft robots. These ridges are a weak point where cracks can form, causing the robot to pop like a balloon. To prevent this, we sometimes need to make our robots using very smooth molds made from metal. This article talks about when and how 3D printing is useful in making soft robots. 

This paper describes a series of endurance and material property tests conducted on a pneumatic, fabric-reinforced inflatable soft actuator made of Dragon Skin 30 silicone, which exhibited performance variations during operation. It is important to understand the level of variation over time and how it affects the motions of the soft actuators. The tests were designed to investigate the repeatability and durability of the actuator by measuring changes in its trajectories after long working periods, determining its failure pressure, and examining its elasticity through tensile tests. The experiments were performed on multiple soft actuators, and the results show pertinent information about the variation in their motion and how it relates to the material behavior of the silicone. This information enhances our understanding of the real-world behavior of silicone soft actuators and enables us to better control their performance in our applications.