CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS — Researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory have developed a 3D-printed “skin” for robots that acts as a shock absorber. The skin protects robots and helps make their movements more precise. <br /> <br />The skin is made of a “programmable viscoelastic material” (PVM). Unlike purely elastic substances, a viscoelastic substance has an elastic component and a viscous component. Viscoelastics are able to dissipate or dampen energy where elastics cannot. <br /> <br />The team found that by 3D-printing the skin, they are able to manipulate its elasticity by altering the amount of liquid material inside the layers. Printing was also the most affordable method of manipulation. <br /> <br />Researchers tested the skin on their cube robot that moves by bouncing. The team used a solid, a liquid and a flexible rubber-like material called TangoBlack+ to print both the cube and its skins. <br /> <br />They found that the robot with the more elastic skin was able to bounce higher and land with more precision. <br /> <br />The work was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation.
