00:00 3D printing has revolutionized myriad industries, letting individuals and companies print pretty
00:08 much anything.
00:09 However, researchers have now revolutionized that process as well, allowing the printing
00:14 of complex mechanisms, including soft and hard materials.
00:17 The process combines 3D printing and laser scanning, letting engineers use both fast
00:22 and slow-curing plastics.
00:24 That means they can print the rigid skeleton of, say, a robotic hand, and then print the
00:28 soft tissues like tendons and ligaments on top of that.
00:31 What is eventually produced is a fully functioning robotic hand, or part, or basically whatever
00:35 you want, and it's all done inside a casing of wax, which is then easily melted away after
00:40 the whole process is complete.
00:42 The team who developed it at ETH Zurich say slow-curing polymers were key to the whole
00:46 concept, as they were able to bend and return to their original shape much more easily.
00:50 Laser scanning lets them monitor those slow-curing polymers as they cure, allowing any irregularities
00:55 to be compensated for and adjusted as subsequent layers are printed.
00:59 It's all in the name of soft robotics, which experts say is the future, as those types
01:04 of devices pose less of an injury threat to humans and are better for handling fragile
01:08 objects.
01:09 [music]
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