Simon Forman"Compliance" is the inverse of stiffness, it just means that your machine is flexible. The idea is very simple, but the unfolding of it (no pun intended) is pretty awesome.
Hackaday [Unofficial]The Challenges of 3D Printing Reliable Springs
The Challenges of 3D Printing Reliable Springs https://hackaday.com/2026/04/27/the-challenges-of-3d-printing-reliable-springs/
#3dPrinterhacks #3Dprintedspring #Compliantmechanism
#3dPrinterhacks #3Dprintedspring #Compliantmechanism
Anton LazarevI designed a single-piece 3D printable Arca-Swiss quick-release clamp. Compliant mechanisms are so satisfying.
Made with FreeCAD. Download the model and customize it to your needs: https://www.printables.com/model/1258735-compliant-arca-swiss-quick-release-clamp
#3dprinting #freecad #cad #opensource #compliantmechanism #photography
Flexures Make Robotic Fingers Simpler to Print https://hackaday.com/2024/07/16/flexures-make-robotic-fingers-simpler-to-print/ #compliantmechanism #anthropomorphic #printinplace #RobotsHacks #biomimetic #flexure #finger #spring
Lucky ResistorThis clever compliant mechanism provides two distinct pressure levels. I've used it for decades without realizing how well-designed it is.
It's the inside of a lens cap for a Sony camera. The first, lighter pressure gives tactile feedback on the right spots to press to unlock the cap, while the stronger second pressure ensures the cap securely locks into the lens ring.
Pushing the Boundaries of Tiny Mechanical Devices With Compliant Mechanisms https://hackaday.com/2023/10/08/pushing-the-boundaries-of-tiny-mechanical-devices-with-compliant-mechanisms/ #compliantmechanism #nerfblaster #ToyHacks #Science
Physical Neural Network Can Be Trained Like a Digital One https://hackaday.com/2023/07/20/physical-neural-network-can-be-trained-like-a-digital-one/ #compliantmechanism #neuralnetwork #mechanical #Science #flexure #lattice
hackaday unofficialFlexures Make This Six-DOF Positioner Accurate to the Micron Level
It's no secret that we think flexures are pretty cool, and we've featured a number of projects that leverage these compliant mechanisms to great effect. But when we saw flexures used in a six-DOF positioner with micron accuracy, we just had to dig a little deeper.
The device is known as the Hexblade, and it comes to us from the lab of [Jonathan Hopkins] at UCLA. We have to admit that at times, the video below feels a little like the "Turbo Encabulator" schtick -- "three identical decoupled actuation limbs arranged in an axisymmetric configuration" may be perfectly descriptive, but it does not flow trippingly from the tongue. Hats off to [Professor Hopkins] for nailing the narration, though, and really, once you get a handle on the jargon, it all makes perfect sense. The platform is supported by a total of six flexures, which look like bent pieces of sheet metal but are actually cut from a solid block of material using wire EDM. Three of the flexures are oriented in the plane of the platform, while the other three are perpendicular to it. The far end of each flexure is connected to a voice-coil actuator that is surrounded by another flexure, this one in a parallelogram arrangement. The six actuators can move the platform smoothly through three linear translations (X, Y, and Z) and three rotations (roll, pitch, and yaw).
The platform's range of motion is limited, but the advantages of using flexures as bearings are clear -- there's no backlash or hysteresis, and the voice coils can control the position of the stage to micron accuracy. Something like the Hexblade would be an ideal positioner for microscopy, and we can imagine an even smaller version, perhaps even a MEMS-fabricated one for nanomanufacturing applications. The original concept of the Hexblade serving as the print head for a fabrication robot for space applications is pretty cool, too, and we'd venture to say that a homebrew version of this probably isn't out of reach either.
Thanks to [IraqiGeek] for the tip.
#mischacks #compliantmechanism #flexure #positioner #stewartplatform #voicecoil
3D-Printing Complex Sensors and Controls with Metamaterials
If you've got a mechatronic project in mind, a 3D printer can be a big help. Gears, levers, adapters, enclosures -- if you can dream it up, a 3D printer can probably churn out a useful part for you. But what about more complicated parts, like sensors and user-input devices? Surely you'll always be stuck buying stuff like that from a commercial supplier. Right?
Maybe not, if a new 3D-printed metamaterial method out of MIT gets any traction. The project is called "MetaSense" and seeks to make 3D-printed compliant structures that have built-in elements to sense their deformation. According to [Cedric Honnet], MetaSense structures are based on a grid of shear cells, printed from flexible filament. Some of the shear cells are simply structural, but some have opposing walls printed from a conductive filament material. These form a capacitor whose value changes as the distance between the plates and their orientation to each other change when the structure is deformed.
The video below shows some simple examples of monolithic MetaSense structures, like switches, accelerometers, and even a complete joystick, all printed with a multimaterial printer. Designing these structures is made easier by software that the MetaSense team developed which models the deformation of a structure and automatically selects the best location for conductive cells to be added. The full documentation for the project has some interesting future directions, including monolithic printed actuators.
[via MIT News]
#science #capacitive #compliantmechanism #composite #deformation #hmi #metamaterial #sensor #shearcell
