Flexible 3D-Printed Parts Can Now Track Their Own Movement
3D-printed parts might bend, flex, or twist, but if you want to know exactly how they're moving, you'll need to attach some type of sensor. That adds cost, increases assembly time, and may interfere with the function of the printed parts. Researchers have now demonstrated a different approach with X-Hinges, a fabrication technique that allows flexible 3D-printed mechanisms to continuously sense their own movement without requiring separate sensors.
Instead of treating sensing as a separate problem, the researchers integrated it directly into printed hinges. Using a multi-material FDM printer, they embedded conductive sensing elements inside the flexible structure while it was being fabricated, allowing a single printed hinge to monitor lateral bending, vertical bending, and axial compression or extension simultaneously.
Several different sensor types can be manufactured (📷: X. Chang et al.)
To make this possible, three different materials have to work together. Most of the structure is made...
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