Lost-Core Injection Molding of Fluidic Elastomer Actuators for the Fabrication of a Modular Eel-Inspired Soft Robot

Biologically inspired soft anguilliform swimming robots show great promise in underwater exploration. Their soft bodies promise to reduce the chance of harming humans or wildlife with which they come into contact, and also to reduce their chance of becoming stuck in complex environments. Furthermore, the efficiency of anguilliform swimming may enable long duration operation. However, the design and fabrication of soft anguilliform swimming robots remain challenging. Here we present a design concept for a modular soft anguilliform robot. To address the challenge of consistently fabricating modules for this design, we also present a new fabrication method that combines injection molding and lost-core molding for the consistent fabrication of bi-directional fluidic elastomer actuator modules. We evaluate the consistency of the fabrication method through visual inspection, weight measurements, bending angle measurements and the measurement of force output of the actuator. This work represents a step towards an autonomous eel-inspired soft robot, as well as a new fabrication approach that may enable a number of other new soft robotic systems.