In the field of soft robotics, engineers
use squishy materials to make
robots durable, flexible, and safer to
operate around humans. Now intrepid
DIYers can also bring life to squishy
machines: Last September, Harvard
University published an open-access
Soft Robotics Toolkit online.
Some of the materials and skills
Harvard recommends may be
beyond the reach of a typical garage
roboticist. But with a little ingenuity,
you can substitute cheaper
parts and simpler techniques. This
project makes actuated “fingers” out
of ribbed hose from a cheap foot
pump, long thin balloons (the type
you can twist and fold into animals),
and other basic items. By attaching
five fingers to a limb–in this case,
a plastic gauntlet from a set of toy
armor—you can form a robot hand.
Once you’ve assembled your
appendage, it’s time for phase two
of the project: building a fluidic
control board. The Arduino brain
controls and coordinates air
valves to make the hand flash the
peace sign, hang loose, or even flip
the bird. A
STATS
Time 8 hours
Cost $70 (hand),
$400 (control
board)
Difficulty
*This article was originally published
