4D Printing: Enabling Technology for Microrobotics Applications

TLDR

4D printing is a key technology that offers higher versatility, sophisticated designs, and diverse sensing and actuation, enabling disruptive solutions for microrobots. The review highlights that soft and smart materials printed in 3D are particularly suitable for microrobotics. It surveys 4D printing approaches in microrobotics, covering fabrication methods, smart materials, activation techniques, and recent advances and opportunities.

Abstract

This review demonstrates that 4D printing constitutes a key technology to enable significant advances in microrobotics. Unlike traditional microfabrication techniques, 4D printing provides higher versatility, more sophisticated designs, and a wide range of sensing and actuation possibilities, opening wide new avenues for the next generation of microrobots. It brings disruptive solutions in terms of variety of stimuli, workspaces, motion complexities, response time, function execution, and genuinely 3D microrobots. This review brings to light how soft and smart materials directly printed in 3D are particularly well suited for microrobotics requirements. This review gives an overview of 4D printing in microrobotics, highlighting advanced microrobotics requirements, fabrication methods, used smart materials, activation techniques, recent advances in the microrobotics field, and emerging opportunities.