--- title: Science and Technology: How 3D Printing Helps Robots Climb Stairs description: One of the main challenges for robots is still traveling efficiently over rugged surfaces and obstacles canonical: https://time.com/3957156/3d-printing-robot-help/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-14T16:59:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:38:18.199Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Here's How 3D Printing Helps Robots Tackle Their Greatest Obstacle og:description: One of the main challenges for robots is still traveling efficiently over rugged surfaces og:url: https://time.com/3957156/3d-printing-robot-help/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt69a1f0a399146961/69885ac78e06017ea0461603/stairs.jpg?branch=production&width=359&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 359 og:image:height: 202 og:image:alt: stairs og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's How 3D Printing Helps Robots Tackle Their Greatest Obstacle twitter:description: One of the main challenges for robots is still traveling efficiently over rugged surfaces twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt69a1f0a399146961/69885ac78e06017ea0461603/stairs.jpg?branch=production&width=359&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How 3D Printing Helps Robots Tackle Their Greatest Obstacle > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=b5b778e1-a798-4a98-a437-e6499946133a&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: South Korea Wins DARPA Competition, Paves Way For Robots In Disaster Areas [Watch (HLS stream): South Korea Wins DARPA Competition, Paves Way For Robots In Disaster Areas](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xcQbdLsH.m3u8) (1:28)  _Published 2015-06-07. DARPA intends to use advances in human-style robotics, like those seen in this competition, to develop better disaster-response robots._ by [Ahmad Lotfi](https://time.com/author/ahmad-lotfi/) and [Alyxander May / The Conversation](https://time.com/author/alyxander-may/) Jul 14, 2015 4:59 PM UTC  Low Angle View Of Steps In Building Low Angle View Of Steps In Building Getty Images by [Ahmad Lotfi](https://time.com/author/ahmad-lotfi/) and [Alyxander May / The Conversation](https://time.com/author/alyxander-may/) Jul 14, 2015 4:59 PM UTC We’ve long attempted to recreate living creatures in robot form. From the very early age of robotics, there have been attempts to reproduce systems similar to [human arms and hands](http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4613-3027-1%5F8#page-1). This has been extended to flexible and mobile platforms reproducing different animals from [dogs](http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/9/8008885/boston-dynamics-spot-robot-walking-bigdog) to [snakes](http://biorobotics.ri.cmu.edu/projects/modsnake/) to [climbing spider octopods](http://www.robugtix.com/t8/), and even entire [humanoids](https://www.aldebaran.com/en/humanoid-robot/nao-robot). One of the key actions performed by animals from [mantises](https://theconversation.com/insect-aerobatics-how-mantises-control-spin-for-targeted-jumps-38346) to kangaroos is jumping. But incorporating a jumping mechanism into autonomous robots requires much more effort from designers. One of the main challenges for robots is still travelling efficiently over rugged surfaces and obstacles. Even the simple task of going up or down a staircase has proven to be rather difficult for robot engineers. A jumping robot could provide access to areas that are inaccessible to traditional mobile wheeled or legged robots. In the case of some search-and-rescue or exploration missions, in collapsed buildings for example, such a robot might even be preferable to [unmanned aerial vehicles](http://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/unmanned-aerial-vehicle-uav.asp) (UAVs) or [quadcopter “drones.”](https://theconversation.com/are-police-drones-just-toys-for-the-boys-18542) There has been increasing research in the robotics field to take on the challenges of designing a mobile platform capable of jumping. Different techniques have been implemented for jumping robots such as using double jointed [hydraulic legs](http://user.das.ufsc.br/~victor/Doutorado/Artigos/Quadrupede/2008%20-%20HyQ%20%E2%80%93%20Hydraulically%20Actuated%20Quadruped%20Robot-hopping%20leg%20prototype.pdf) or a [carbon dioxide-powered piston](http://www.theverge.com/2012/3/28/2908722/boston-dynamics-sand-flea-30ft-jump) to push the robot off the ground. Other methods include using “[shape memory alloy](http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F11552246%5F27)” – metal that alters its shape when heated with electrical current to create a jumping force – and even [controlled explosions](http://www.nature.com/news/explosive-power-makes-silicone-robot-jump-1.12402). But currently there is no universally accepted standard solution to this complex task. A new approach explored by researchers at the University of California San Diego and Harvard University uses a robot with a [partially soft body](http://www.sciencemag.org/lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aab0129). Most robots have largely rigid frames incorporating sensors, actuators and controllers, but a specific branch of robotic design aims to make robots that are soft, flexible and compliant with their environment – just like biological organisms. Soft frames and structures help to produce complex movements that could not be achieved by rigid frames. The new robot was created using 3D printing technology to produce a design that seamlessly integrates rigid and soft parts. The main segment comprises two hemispheres nestled inside one inside the other to create a flexible compartment. Oxygen and butane are injected into the compartment and ignited, causing it to expand and launching the robot into the air. Pneumatic legs are used to tilt the robot body in the intended jump direction. Unlike many other mechanisms, this allows the robot to jump continuously without a pause between each movement as it recharges. For example, a spring-and-clutch mechanism would require the robot to wait for the spring to recompress and then release. The downside is that this mechanism would be difficult to mass-manufacture because of its reliance on 3D printing. The use of a 3D printer to combine the robot’s soft and hard elements in a single structure is a big part of what makes it possible. There are now masses of different materials for different purposes in the world of 3D printing, from flexible [NinjaFlex](http://www.ninjaflex3d.com/) to high-strength Nylon and even traditional materials such as wood and copper. The creation of “multi-extrusion” printers with multiple print heads means that two or more materials can be used to create one object using whatever complex design the engineer can come up with, including animal-like structures. For example, Ninjaflex, with its high flexibility could be used to create a skin or muscle-like outer material combined with Nylon near the core to protect vital inner components, just like a rib cage. In the new robot, the top hemisphere is printed as a single component but with nine different layers of stiffness, from rubber-like flexibility on the outside to full rigidity on the inside. This gives it the necessary strength and resilience to survive the impact when it lands. By 3D printing and trialling multiple versions of the robot with different material combinations, the engineers realised a fully rigid model would jump higher but would be more likely to break and so went with the more flexible outer shell. Once robots are capable of performing more tasks with the skill of humans or animals, such as climbing stairs, navigating on their own and manipulating objects, they will start to become more integrated into our daily lives. This latest project highlights how 3D printing can help engineers design and test different ideas along the road to that goal. _This_ [_article_](https://theconversation.com/how-3d-printing-helped-robots-tackle-their-greatest-obstacle-stairs-44434) _originally appeared on_ [_The Conversation_](http://theconversation.com) ## Transcript Seeing Kaist from South Korea as one of the 2015 darker robotics challenge. It's robot Hubo vested 22 other robots with it's 44 minutes 28 seconds time to take home the 2 million dollar top prize. Each robotic competitor got a one hour window to drive a car, open doors, pull levers, turn knobs, and saw holes in walls, mostly autonomously and completely untethered. This parade of robotic dexterity got is start following the Fukushima Nuclear disaster in 2011. DARPA's competition paired international teams against one another in an effort to put robotic development on the fast track. The ultimate goal is to create robots that can enter areas too dangerous for humans to do important jobs. Because for all their ungainly appearances and occasional balance issues, robots do much better with hard radiation than humans. Number one concern is human life. I mean this type of technology in any operations in humanitarian assistance disaster response is to save lives. The robots are designed to bare at least some resemblance to humans because they'll be doing tasks normally people would. Engineer Darwin Caldwell explains, the environment you're going into is a human environment, and a humanoid robot is designed to take on a human environment. 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