**6. Conclusions**

This paper has proposed a semi-automated design algorithm for computing straight bevel gear involute profiles by taking into account a 3D printing manufacturing process. The proposed formulation relies on Tredgold approximation, and is suitable for any desired number of teeth and relative axes inclination angles. A specific case study was carried out to design a miniaturized bevel gear pair in order to minimize the encumbrance for a new laparoscopic robotic system, EasyLap. A meshing analysis and a finite element-based tooth contact analysis were carried out in order to evaluate the behavior of the geared transmission under a set of different loads that did not overcome the applied working conditions. The numerical simulations demonstrated that the proposed non-traditional design approach provides conjugate tooth profiles of the contacting surfaces as well as their suitable vibrational performances. The latter are properly used to guarantee high precision for biomedical applications. Finally, a prototype was also built and successfully installed on an EasyLap robotic system, proving engineering feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed design procedure. Future developments will extend the proposed algorithm, including an STE-based optimization in the calculation of the radii and angles.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, A.A., G.F., P.F.G., and G.D.; Investigation, G.D.; Methodology, A.A. and G.D.; Supervision, D.M., G.C., and G.D.; Visualization, A.A.; Writing— original draft, A.A.; Writing— review and editing, D.M., G.C., and G.D..

**Acknowledgments:** This work was performed under project EasyLap, POR Calabria 2014-2020 Fesr-Fse, CUP J28C17000130006. The authors wish to acknowledge the help of Gianluca La Greca and Basilio Sinopoli for preparing the CAD model and printing the prototypes of the bevel gears. The authors gratefully acknowledge Siemens Industry Software NV (Belgium) for the valuable technical support.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
