An Integrated Strategy for Soft Robotics: Wireless Sensing Enabled by Laser-Sintered Silver

Abstract

Soft robots with integrated wireless self-sensing capabilities hold transformative potential for complex environmental exploration and confined-space applications. However, conventional integrated sensing methods force a trade-off between mechanical compliance and precise locomotion monitoring, making wireless, real-time, and high-fidelity locomotion sensing challenging. Here, we present an integrated strategy combining programmable magnetic actuation, laser-sintered flexible strain sensors, and wireless signal transmission to achieve precise, untethered deformation monitoring. Template-assisted magnetization is used to generate spatially resolved magnetic domains, while energy-modulated laser sintering directly fabricates strain sensors on elastomeric substrates. The results show that high-power laser sintering (30 W at 10 mm/s) produces porous silver architectures optimal for strain sensing, with high linearity (±3.2% error) and robust cyclic stability (resistance drift <3.7%). Validation on a tripodal crawling robot reveals that a miniaturized 433 MHz wireless system enables real-time deformation monitoring with a latency of 120 ± 15 μs. This innovative wireless sensing integration opens a paradigm for closed-loop control and adaptive behavior in dynamically deforming soft robots, establishing a scalable framework for embodied intelligence in next-generation robotic systems.