Explore bio-inspired design with arthropods! Arthropods, including spiders, crabs, insects, and isopods, are a phylum of invertebrates with bodies built of hardened segments connected by membranous joints. These hard-soft compliant structures, which can be driven by internal hydraulic systems, are a fantastic model for bio-inspiration of soft robots and lightweight actuators. This project will take place in the Bio-Inspired Manufacturing (BAM) Laboratory, who previously established methods to 3D print soft structures with fully integrated fluidic circuitry in a single print run. The project will take advantage of the lab's printing facilities, from macro- to micro-scale fabrication technology. Students will explore the behavior and biomechanics of spider predatory strikes with PhD student Rho Ma, select specific features they can additively manufacture, and integrate microhydraulics to build compliant structures such as micro-grippers and invertebrate-inspired metamaterials.