Easy Cleaning of 3D SLA/DLP Printed Soft Fluidic Actuators with Complex Internal Geometry

With the rise of new applications for soft actuators, more advanced methods of fabrication are being used to obtain the desired complex internal structures. Due to their accuracy, affordability, and ability to create airtight structures, Stereolithography (SLA) and Digital Light Processing (DLP) printing are becoming increasingly common for manufacturing these soft fluidic actuators (SFAs). The manufacturing of SFAs using these printing methods requires various post-processing steps to ensure that the final result exhibits the desired behavior when pressurized. However, the required steps are often poorly documented and mainly focus on cleaning the exterior of an SLA/DLP printed part. In this paper, we provide a methodology to clean the complex internal structures of SLA/DLP printed SFAs. This methodology comes in the form of a peristaltic pump used to cycle the cleaning liquid through the internal geometry of the SFA, and a clear cleaning procedure. We compare our cleaning procedure to the standard procedure, showing the effectiveness of the proposed method.