We've seen cool 3D printers before, and we're definitely no strangers to robots, but this is the first 3D-printed soft robot we've ever seen capable of walking off its own assembly line. The robot was designed and printed by a team from The University of Edinburgh. According to the project journal, a huge goal of this project was to make improvements in the field of fluidic soft systems.
The team had to develop what they describe as a new 3D printing system oriented specifically for 3D printing fluidic soft systems like the robotic walking unit featured here. This was particularly complicated thanks to the complexities that come with 3D printing the flexible materials used to create fluidic engineering components.
