SDM Overview

• 2005 M. Hatanka's Ph.D. thesis on SDM with embedded flexible elements across material boundaries (17MB PDF)
• 2004 Slides (PDF) on "Parameterizing materials and manufacturing" for biomimetic structures -- from Rise.RiSE teleconference presentation by MarkCutkosky
• 2003 ASME Paper (PDF) on extending SDM to embed flexible materials (e.g. kevlar fibers) into 3D multi-material structures (e.g. for improved strength) by MotohideHatanaka
• 2002 IJRR paper (PDF) on use of SDM for bio-inspired legged robots
• 2000 ASME paper (PDF) on materials modeling of SDM parts for bio-inspired robots
• 1999 ASME paper (PDF( on SDM process planning for multi-material prototypes

SDM example: showing bounding boxes of parts to be embedded, layering of part and sacrificial support material, partially completed part with red wax to temporarily fill cavities and completed robot with that contains (i) a leaf spring, (ii) two values, (iii) a pressure transducer all encased in urethane.

SDM Process Tutorials

These pages contain all the information you should need to create an SDM part from start to finish:

• SDMUsingPolymers - Pouring polymers safely, waste disposal, polymer details (cure-times, mix ratios, hardness, etc)
• UnigraphicsTutorial - Basics of setting up a part in SolidWorks? , importing parts into Unigraphics, creating a basic planar mill operation, basic post-processing.
  • UnigraphicsQuickReference - quick overview/reminder of the steps in Unigraphics
• MachiningOnTheHAAS - How to use the HAAS, downloading toolpaths, running programs, planing blocks
• HAASToolTable - Information about feed rates and cut depths, etc. for the tools on the HAAS
• SDMConsumableMaterials - All the supplies needed to SDM and where to restock them
• SDMProcessNotes contains useful information about the SDM process, including a tutorial and much more (urethane properties, end mills, etc...)
• SDMTutorialNotes - A comprehensive tutorial of the SDM process
• YoungsModuliForUrethanes
• SDMFabTechniques - Various useful SDM techniques
• UrethaneWaste - How to deal with the hazardous waste
• PressureSensing describes MiguelPiedrahita'a work with creating sealed chambers using SDM, for use in foot pressure sensing.
• In-situ mechanism analysis -- Rajagopalan and Cutkosky 2003 ASME transactions paper on statistical analysis for mechanisms created via SDM and other layered manufacturing processes.
• Discussion topic: ParametricDesign 2-20-04 MarkCutkosky - A new page created to summarize ideas about parameterizing the design space biodynotic robots.

Links and examples

• StickyBot toes are among the most advanced examples of multi-material SDM parts with embedded fibers.
• SpinyBot and spined RisePlatform toes are another good example of multi-material SDM structures with tailored compliance properties in different directions.
• The exoskeletal finger built for the IFOS/NASA PhotonicRobots project is a good example of light-weight, hollow structure with embedded sensors
• Stanford Rapid Prototyping Lab -- the home of SDM at Stanford:
• The Biomimetics SDM pages (1999 ONR MURI) --
• MotohideHatanaka 's SDM pages: Moto's publications and presentations
• Docushare collection on Rapid Prototyping (papers, presentations).
• Useful Molding techniques and materials summary from Duke University.

-- MarkCutkosky - 29 May 2003, updated 29 July 2003

Partial pallet with 112 SpinyBot toes in process:

-- AlanAsbeck - 16 Jun 2008