The ability to 3D print soft materials with integrated strain sensors enables significant flexibility for the design and fabrication of soft robots. Hydrogels provide an interesting alternative to traditional soft robot materials, allowing for more varied fabrication techniques. In this work, we investigate the 3D printing of a gelatin-glycerol hydrogel, where transglutaminase is used to catalyse the crosslinking of the hydrogel such that its material properties can be controlled for 3D printing. By including electron-conductive elements (aqueous carbon black) in the hydrogel we can create highly flexible and linear soft strain sensors. We present a first investigation into adapting a desktop 3D printer and optimizing its control parameters to fabricate sensorized 2D and 3D structures which can undergo > 300% strain and show a response to strain which is highly linear and synchronous. To demonstrate the capabilities of this material and fabrication approach, we produce some example 2D and 3D structures and show their sensing capabilities.

中文翻译：

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用于多材料软结构的 3D 打印传感软明胶水凝胶


3D 打印带有集成应变传感器的软材料的能力为软机器人的设计和制造提供了极大的灵活性。水凝胶为传统软机器人材料提供了一种有趣的替代品，可以实现更多样化的制造技术。在这项工作中，我们研究了明胶-甘油水凝胶的 3D 打印，其中转谷氨酰胺酶用于催化水凝胶的交联，从而可以控制其材料特性以进行 3D 打印。通过在水凝胶中加入电子导电元件（水性炭黑），我们可以创建高度柔性和线性的软应变传感器。我们首次研究采用桌面 3D 打印机并优化其控制参数来制造传感 2D 和 3D 结构，这些结构可以承受 > 300% 应变，并显示出高度线性和同步的应变响应。为了展示这种材料和制造方法的功能，我们制作了一些 2D 和 3D 结构示例并展示了它们的传感功能。