Additive manufacturing of soft robots

Abstract The soft materials additive manufacturing revolution will rely heavily on the interplay between soft material mechanics, fluid properties, chemical interfaces, biology, process engineering, and chemical engineering knowledge in order to deal with the complications that arise when structuring various fluids into 3D shapes. Extrusion-based additive manufacturing of soft materials is especially exciting in the context of soft robotics due to the wide range of material systems that can be printed. Well established as well as novel methods of extrusion-based printing are becoming known for fast, precise, and complex geometry possibilities, improving over previous techniques in manual construction. In this chapter, we will review several recent developments in additive manufacturing in soft robotics, as well as an outline of strategies for soft robot extrusion-based additive manufacturing, and introduce a machine design and material characterization. We will also discuss future directions in soft robot additive manufacturing and emphasize the need for interdisciplinary collaboration.