Inkbit Blog

A Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) robotics intern spent eight weeks at Inkbit and left behind a working demo: a contact-sensitive skin and a pressure-sensing fingertip, each printed as a single part on Inkbit Vista. Collaborative robots share space with people. That only works if the machine can tell when contact happens. Alexander Theofilou, an undergraduate robotics student at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, joined Inkbit for May and June of 2026 with one directive:

ooling introduces draft angles that alter cross-sectional geometry in the sealing zone. Overmolding requires secondary bonding operations that add variance. Multi-material requirements get resolved by splitting a single component into an assembly, which introduces tolerance stacking at every interface. The design team knows what the part needs to do. The manufacturing process determines what the part actually does.

Multi-material (soft+rigid) and multi-functional VCJ 3D printed part design challenge.

In today’s race to innovate, traditional prototyping workflows can’t keep up. Lengthy lead times, limited material options, and costly design revisions often stand between your idea and its real-world validation. When you prototype with Inkbit, you don’t just test a part. You validate the future of your product line. Built for What's Next That’s why product teams across aerospace, medical, electronics, and industrial sectors are turning to Inkbit’s Digital Factory. Your next-