Robot Fish Fabrication Research
During my first two years at Olin, I conducted research for the Robot Fish project as part of the fabrication subteam. I explored how to make 3D printed molds of the fish fins and tail and use those molds to cast flexible silicon rubber parts.
Using existing models of the fish fins and tail, I created molds for the parts in SolidWorks.
3D Model of Fish Tail
The molds were printed on a Stratasys F170 3D printer, which uses supports that can be dissolved in a lye bath. This was ideal to remove support from the small holes needed to inject the silicon rubber compound. The 3D printed molds did not have a smooth surface, so after printing the molds, I then sanded the inside surface and coated it in several layers of epoxy to create a smooth surface.
3D printed mold, sanded and coated with epoxy
I experimented with various hardnesses of silicon rubber to determine which would be best for the part. Both the fin and tail were rather thin, and while I wanted the parts to be flexible, they still needed to be stiff enough to maintain their shape and not deform. The following image is a final test piece I created at the end of the semester. I clamped the mold shut and used a syringe to inject the silicon rubber compound into the mold. The fin mold had an additional hole for a mount which the rubber was casted around.
