Hardware · Creative

seven pneumatic silicone jellyfish, part robot, part sculpture

Inspired by my favourite animal, the turritopsis dohrnii (the immortal jellyfish), I created an exhibition of 7 soft robotic jellyfish. They are silicone based, using Ecoflex-30 and Ecoflex-50, and pneumatically actuated using syringes, with fabric integrated in the design inspired by Thomas Jackson.

I designed and 3D printed my own moulds, learning about wall thickness, air chamber shapes, and how form affects function. I fabricated everything myself using a vacuum chamber and oven for curing. Along the way I ran into many failure modes including popping, air gaps, variability in stiffness, and tubing fitting positions.

Through each iteration I made changes: using fabric for the bottom layer, printing separate moulds for the bottom layer, and adding a tubing adapter directly into the CAD. The final exhibition brought all 7 jellyfish together.