Fig. 2: Overview of the system functionality.

A User selects printing properties such as the fibre size, deposition accuracy, printing speed and printing stability, which refer to fibre diameter, jet angle, collection speed and standard deviation of the Taylor cone area respectively. B User input is passed through the ANN optimizer—the feedforward model of the system which predicts a set of input parameters that will satisfy the user’s output parameter selection. C Printing commences using the predicted input parameters. The material deposition process is captured in real-time using the collimated backlight, telecentric lens, and monochrome camera. D Output images are collected and analysed. E Output data is displayed and used in (B) the feedback loop where the ANN controller is used to correct the discrepancy between the requested and measured output. F System architecture: MATLAB is used for data operations and user interface, while the microcontroller boards and camera are utilized for parameter control and output monitoring.