Manufacturing-Integrated Design from the Desktop to Deep-sea: novel robots and construction materials
Kaitlyn Becker Assistant Professor, MIT Mechanical Engineering Department
To design a product is to design the process by which it is made, and approaching problems at the interface of design and manufacturing offers opportunities for disruptive change. Navigating design, manufacturing, and material spaces in parallel becomes increasingly relevant as we address modern challenges with materials or environments that bring both unique and beneficial attributes while simultaneously imposing stringent restrictions on design and manufacturing. I’ll discuss how taking an integrated approach to design and manufacturing has improved the reliability and extended the reach of soft robots, enabling deep-sea exploration and biological sampling. I will also touch on how the Fabrication-Integrated Design Lab at MIT is applying a similar approach to soft robotic assistive devices and 3D printing with recycled glass to create structural masonry that is also recyclable.