DEVELOPMENT AND MANUFACTURE OF A SOFT ROBOT MOLD FOR ENDOTRACHEAL INTUBATION

• Main Author: Rifqi Shani, Naufal
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Subjects: Teknik (Rekayasa, enjinering dan kegiatan berkaitan)
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/77152
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

A soft robot is a type of robot that is manufactured with soft-compliant materials. Its compliance is one of the reasons why it has a wide range of applications. This work focuses on a soft robot that is used in the medical field as a manipulator for endotracheal intubation (ETI). ETI could cause many complications if it is done by inexperienced medical personnel. One of the complications is esophageal perforation, which could risk the patient’s life. Previous research, on which this work is based, had its components made outside Indonesia with expensive equipment. Also, the repeatability is considered low, at below 25%. Therefore, this work’s objective is to optimize the manufacturing method so that it has high repeatability and could also be made in Indonesia. This work starts with a literature review to understand the important variable and its impact on the design or manufacturing process. All of the information obtained is used as a reference for the design process that will be used for the experiment. Afterward, the soft robot is tested to see its motion responses and compared with previous research. The result of this work is a manufacturing method that could produce soft robots with high repeatability. Based on the 7 samples that were made, the success rate of the soft robot’s main body is 100% and 50% for the sealing process. Each soft robot has the same pattern; that is, there is one chamber that is stiffer or softer so that the resulting angle is different from the other two chambers. This is influenced by the intersection pattern of the winding threads against the chamber position. Also, there is an improvement in the efficiency of manufacturing procedures, which affects operational difficulties and the waste generated.