Additive‐Manufacturing‐Based Flexible Tactile Sensors

Abstract

ABSTRACT Flexible tactile sensors are rapidly evolving toward high‐resolution, multimodal sensing and large‐area integrability, but traditional manufacturing processes face inherent limitations in complex 3D structure construction, material system compatibility, and fast and efficient manufacturing. Additive manufacturing (AM) technology, with its unique advantages such as on‐demand forming, high structural freedom, and multi‐material collaborative processing, is becoming a core driving force for breakthroughs in sensing performance and integration, moving the field toward cross‐process integration and accelerated innovation. However, AM processes and applications have not yet formed a complete system, and the development and intelligentization of AM‐based flexible tactile sensors have reached a bottleneck, urgently requiring a comprehensive and systematic review to achieve breakthrough progress. Therefore, this review systematically examines the mechanisms by which different AM processes affect the material properties, structural construction, and overall performance of devices, evaluates their applicability, process advantages, and limitations in micro‐nano structure manufacturing, and summarizes their latest advancements in intelligent systems and emerging application scenarios. Finally, it provides an in‐depth outlook on the future development challenges and potential opportunities of AM‐based flexible tactile sensors.