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Extrusion-based 4D-printing, which is an emerging field within additive manufacturing, has enabled the technical transfer of bioinspired self-shaping mechanisms by emulating the functional morphology of motile plant structures (e.g., leaves, petals, capsules). However, restricted by the layer-by-layer extrusion process, much of the resulting works are simplified abstractions of the pinecone scale’s bilayer structure. This paper presents a new method of 4D-printing by rotating the printed axis of the bilayers, which enables the design and fabrication of self-shaping monomaterial systems in cross sections. This research introduces a computational workflow for programming, simulating, and 4D-printing differentiated cross sections with multilayered mechanical properties. Taking inspiration from the large-flowered butterwort (Pinguicula grandiflora), which shows the formation of depressions on its trap leaves upon contact with prey, we investigate the depression formation of bioinspired 4D-printed test structures by varying each depth layer. Cross-sectional 4D-printing expands the design space of bioinspired bilayer mechanisms beyond the XY plane, allows more control in tuning their self-shaping properties, and paves the way toward large-scale 4D-printed structures with high-resolution programmability.

A key challenge in designing soft continuum robotic arms is the realization of intelligent behavior while minimizing sensing, actuation, and control effort. This work investigates how soft continuum arms can benefit from mimicking the distribution of flexural rigidity of searcher stems in climbing plants to accomplish this goal. A modeling approach is presented to tune both the structural design and the tactile sensor design of a soft continuum arm inspired by the flexural rigidity distribution of Mandevilla cf. splendens' searcher stems. The resulting soft continuum arm, named Mandy, can detect suitable supports along its length and twining around them using a single sensor and actuator. Through simulations and experiments, it is shown such behavior cannot be achieved with a soft continuum arm possessing uniform structural stiffness and a standard tactile sensor design. Thus, the significance of investing greater effort in structural design, leveraging biological data, to improve the design of soft continuum arms with more compact actuation and sensing hardware, is highlighted. A quantitative biomimetic approach allows for building soft continuum arms inspired by twining climbing plants. Designed to mimic the flexural rigidity of terminal stems of Mandevilla cf. splendens, the robot detects the presence of a support and twines around it, without requiring a central computing unit.image (c) 2023 WILEY-VCH GmbH

Angesichts der Öffnung der Sozialpädagogischen Assistenzausbildung für Teilnehmende mit einem ersten Schulabschluss fokussiert die Studie die beruflichen und geschlechtlichen Orientierungen von männlichen Auszubildenden. Im Zentrum stehen leitfadenstrukturierte Interviews mit neun Auszubildenden, die gemäß Grounded Theory ausgewertet wurden. Die Befunde zeigen, dass 1. die Ausbildung verschiedene Bedeutungen hat, die im Kontext von Bildungsbenachteiligung einzuordnen sind, und 2. unterschiedliche Konstruktionen von Männlichkeit auftreten, die sowohl hegemoniale als auch fürsorgliche Aspekte adressieren. Im Fazit werden der theoretische und praktische Nutzen der Ergebnisse diskutiert., Against the backdrop that social pedagogical assistant training has now been opened up for those with a secondary school leaving certificate, this study focuses on the vocational and gender orientations of male trainees. We conducted semi-structured interviews with nine trainees and analyzed them in accordance with grounded theory. The results show that 1. vocational education and training have heterogeneous meanings that can be classified as educational disadvantages, and 2. different constructions of masculinity emerge from the data that address both hegemonic and caring aspects. In our conclusion we discuss the practical and theoretical implications of these results.