Soft Pneumatic Gelatin Actuator for Edible Robotics

TL;DR

This paper introduces a fully edible pneumatic gelatin-based actuator with comparable performance to traditional elastomer actuators, enabling the development of edible robots for various applications.

Contribution

It presents the design, fabrication, and validation of the first fully edible pneumatic actuator made from gelatin-glycerol composite, demonstrating its potential for edible robotics.

Findings

Achieved a bending angle of 170.3° at 25 kPa pressure.

Demonstrated a functional edible gripper handling objects.

Actuator performance comparable to silicone elastomer actuators.

Abstract

We present a fully edible pneumatic actuator based on gelatin-glycerol composite. The actuator is monolithic, fabricated via a molding process, and measures 90 mm in length, 20 mm in width, and 17 mm in thickness. Thanks to the composite mechanical characteristics similar to those of silicone elastomers, the actuator exhibits a bending angle of 170.3 {\deg} and a blocked force of 0.34 N at the applied pressure of 25 kPa. These values are comparable to elastomer based pneumatic actuators. As a validation example, two actuators are integrated to form a gripper capable of handling various objects, highlighting the high performance and applicability of the edible actuator. These edible actuators, combined with other recent edible materials and electronics, could lay the foundation for a new type of edible robots.