4D Printing Strategy for Tilt Angle Self-Sensing Device Inspired by Ear Semicircular Canal

Yuanyuan Ren; Zihan Zhou; Xiaohang Luo; Wanting Qiang; Yuexin An; Yifeng Lei; Xiaohu Xu; Longjian Xue; Daobing Chen

doi:10.1016/j.eng.2026.06.016

Engineering ›› :202606016 DOI: 10.1016/j.eng.2026.06.016

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4D Printing Strategy for Tilt Angle Self-Sensing Device Inspired by Ear Semicircular Canal

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Abstract

Integrating liquid functional materials into multi-material four-dimensional (4D) printing can broaden the range of multi-functional applications and represents a key direction in the development of additive manufacturing. However, achieving integrated printing of liquid functional materials remains a major challenge. This study presents a strategy for the integrated printing of solid and liquid materials through the incorporation of a liquid syringe nozzle into the printing system. Accordingly, a biomimetic semicircular canal-inspired tilt sensor was designed and fabricated via integrated printing to validate the feasibility of the proposed strategy. After optimization, the tilt sensing sensitivity of the prepared biomimetic sensor could reach 6.54203 kΩ⋅(°)⁻¹. Moreover, the biomimetic sensor was integrally printed inside cockroach-like and petal-shaped intelligent devices, endowing them with tilt self-sensing functionality to realize real-time monitoring of their own postures. This study is expected to greatly expand the applicable range of functional materials for multi-material 4D printing and provide technical solutions for multi-functional smart devices.

Keywords

Tilt sensor / Self-sensing / Ear semicircular canal / Bioinspired / 4D printing

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Yuanyuan Ren, Zihan Zhou, Xiaohang Luo, Wanting Qiang, Yuexin An, Yifeng Lei, Xiaohu Xu, Longjian Xue, Daobing Chen. 4D Printing Strategy for Tilt Angle Self-Sensing Device Inspired by Ear Semicircular Canal. Engineering 202606016 DOI:10.1016/j.eng.2026.06.016

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