Soft robots are paving their way to catch up with the application range of metal-based machines and to occupy fields that are challenging for traditional machines. Pneumatic actuators play an important role in this development, allowing the construction of bioinspired motion systems. Pneumatic logic gates provide a powerful alternative for controlling pressure-activated soft robots, which are often controlled by metallic valves and electric circuits. Many existing approaches for fully compliant pneumatic control logic suffer from high manual effort and low pressure tolerance. In our work, we invented three-dimensional (3D) printable, pneumatic logic gates that perform Boolean operations and imitate electric circuits. Within 7 hours, a filament printer is able to produce a module that serves as an OR, AND, or NOT gate; the logic function is defined by the assigned input signals. The gate contains two alternately acting pneumatic valves, whose work principle is based on the interaction of pressurized chambers and a 3D-printed 1-millimeter tube inside. The gate design does not require any kind of support material for its hollow parts, which makes the modules ready to use directly after printing. Depending on the chosen material, the modules can operate on a pressure supply between 80 and more than 750 kilopascals. The capabilities of the invented gates were verified by implementing an electronics-free drink dispenser based on a pneumatic ring oscillator and a 1-bit memory. Their high compliance is demonstrated by driving a car over a fully flexible, 3D-printed robotic walker controlled by an integrated circuit.

中文翻译：

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用于控制软机器人执行器的 3D 打印数字气动逻辑

软机器人正在为追赶金属机器的应用范围并占领传统机器所面临的挑战领域铺平道路。气动执行器在这一发展中发挥着重要作用，允许构建仿生运动系统。气动逻辑门为控制压力激活的软机器人提供了强大的替代方案，这些机器人通常由金属阀门和电路控制。许多现有的完全兼容的气动控制逻辑方法都存在高手动工作量和低压力耐受性的问题。在我们的工作中，我们发明了三维 (3D) 可打印气动逻辑门，可以执行布尔运算并模仿电路。在 7 小时内，长丝打印机能够生产出充当“或”、“与”或“非”门的模块；逻辑功能由分配的输入信号定义。该闸门包含两个交替作用的气动阀，其工作原理基于加压室和内部 3D 打印的 1 毫米管的相互作用。门设计的中空部分不需要任何支撑材料，这使得模块在打印后即可直接使用。根据所选材料的不同，模块可以在 80 至 750 千帕以上的压力源下运行。通过实施基于气动环形振荡器和一位存储器的无电子饮料分配器来验证所发明的门的功能。通过在由集成电路控制的完全灵活的 3D 打印机器人步行器上驾驶汽车，证明了它们的高度合规性。