Aqua-Morph: A Design Method for Fabricating Shape-Changing Hydrogel Structures

Abstract

Soft robotic actuators can create new uses and expressions for tangible and embodied interaction. Hydrogels, popular in soft robotics for their reversible shape-changing properties, often require technical expertise and specialized laboratories for fabrication, limiting rapid iteration. Additionally, aesthetic and form-giving qualities important to designers are often overlooked. This pictorial presents Aqua-Morph, an accessible design method for fabricating 3D-printed hydrogel-based structures that self-actuate in water. Our contributions are twofold: (1) a Design Manual outlining the fabrication pipeline using Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D printing with digitally adaptable parameters for creating flexible actuators, and (2) a Tangible Movement Library of shape-changing hydrogel structures to empower designers, creative roboticists, material scientists and engineers in creating tangible interactions.