A main challenge in the additive manufacturing (AM) field is the possibility to create structures with embedded actuators and sensors: addressing this requirement would lead to a reduction of manual assembly tasks and product cost, pushing AM technologies into a new dimension for the fabrication of assembly-free smart objects. The main novelty of the present paper is the one shot fabrication of a 3D printed soft finger with an embedded shape memory alloy (SMA) actuator and two different 3D printed sensors (strain gauge and capacitive force sensor). 3D printed structures, fabricated with the proposed approach, can be immediately activated after their removal from the build plate, providing real-time feedback because of the embedded sensing units. Three different materials from two nozzles were extruded to fabricate the passive elements and sensing units of the proposed bioinspired robotic finger and a custom-made Cartesian pick and place robot (CPPR) was employed to integrate the SMA spring actuator into the 3D printed robotic finger during the fabrication processes. Another novelty of the present paper is the direct integration of SMA actuators during the 3D printing process. The low melting thermoplastic polycaprolactone (PCL) was extruded: its printing temperature of 70 °C is lower than the SMA austenitic start temperature, preventing the SMA activation during the manufacturing process. Two different sensors based on the piezoresistive principle and capacitive principle were studied, 3D printed and characterized, showing respectively a sensitivity ratio of change in resistance to finger bending angle to be 674.8 $$\frac{\Omega }{^\circ \mathrm{Angle}}$$ Ω ∘ Angle and a capacitance to force ratio of $$0.53 \frac{\mathrm{pF}}{\mathrm{N}}$$ 0.53 pF N . The proposed manufacturing approach paves the way for significant advancement of AM technologies in the field of smart structures with embedded actuators to provide real-time feedback, offering several advantages, especially in the soft robotics domain.

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The effect of graft density and length on the ordering of spherical nanoparticles with block copolymer (BCP) grafts was investigated using a dissipative particle dynamics model with a hard nanoparticle potential and protracted colored noise dynamics (PCND). The blocks in the BCP grafts were of equal volume fraction and thus formed lamellae with the nanoparticles within the core block domain. It was found that decreased graft density increases the energy barrier when graft length was kept constant, but when the total amount of polymer per particle is constant, the energy barrier appeared constant until very low graft density. Lower graft density sharply increased the energy barrier to forming lamellae significantly, rendering sampling over that barrier, even with PCND, exceedingly slow. This is caused by a combination of congestion of nanoparticles in the center of the nanoparticle rich domains and the formation of small aggregates at low graft densities.

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In soft robotics, the fabrication of extremely soft structures capable of performing bio-inspired complex motion is a challenging task. In this paper, an innovative 3D printing of soft silicone structures with embedded shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators are proposed, which is completed in a single printing cycle from CAD files. The proposed custom-made 3D printing setup, based on the material extrusion (MEX) method, was used in conjunction with a cartesian pick and place robot (CPPR) to completely automate the fabrication of thick silicone skins (7 mm) with embedded shape memory alloy actuators. These structures were fabricated monolithically without any assembly tasks and direct human intervention. Taking advantage of the capability to 3D print different geometries, three different patterns were fabricated over the silicone skin, resulting in remarkable dynamic motions: an out-of-plane deformation (jumping of the structure from the x-y plane to the x-z plane) was achieved for the first-time employing silicone skin, to the best of the author’s knowledge. In addition, two process parameters (printing speed and build plate temperature) and the extruded silicone curing mechanisms were investigated to enhance the printing quality. This paper aims to advance the role of additive manufacturing in the field of soft robotics by demonstrating all the benefits that a low-cost, custom-made silicone 3D printer can bring to the table in terms of manufacturing soft bio-inspired structures.