Soft Stepper Update 1: The Control Board

Over the past few days, we've made significant progress on some of the most crucial components of the Soft Stepper.

New moulds were designed, printed, and set to cast. We initially designed a shorter, 6 chambered version.

Unfortunately, a mixed axial/bending stress analysis revealed that our application required actuators that were longer and contained more chambers.

Thus, we created a new set of moulds and set the legs to cast in these. 

As soon as they are done and cured together, we will attempt to incorporated them into the chassis we designed and printed on the Makerbot.

Additionally, we designed and laser-cut a control board for the components.

The pump and solenoids were immediately integrated onto it. When the PCB is received, we will be able to add the mbed, pressure sensors, and mosfets. 

We created a short demo video to showcase our recent developments, implementing the rhythm for one of the Soft Stepper gaits.