- A new dual-mode tactile electronic skin that could improve robots’ sensing capabilities has been introduced.
- This electronic skin can both detect tactile information and produce feedback.
- The e-skin prototype was also tested in a weighing experiment to investigate its potential for three main possible applications: object recognition, precision weighing and immersive human-robot interaction (HRI).
In recent years, materials scientists and engineers have introduced increasingly sophisticated materials for robotics and prosthetics applications. This includes a wide variety of electronic skins designed to sense the surrounding environment and artificially reproduce the sense of touch.
Researchers at Tsinghua University recently introduced a new dual-mode tactile electronic skin that could improve robots’ sensing abilities and also allow them to transmit information by leveraging a human’s sense of touch. preprint server on arXiv published and IEEE ICRA Presented in a paper accepted by 2024, this e-skin can both detect tactile information and produce haptic feedback. Thus, it enables bidirectional touch-based human-robot interactions (HRI).
The technology seeks to expand the boundaries of current electronic skin technology, which can only provide haptic sensing or haptic feedback, but not both. The working mechanisms of the detection and feedback units cannot be combined smoothly. This leads to larger devices and higher production costs.
Dr. The main goal of the work by Ding and colleagues was to develop a dual-mode electronic skin that would also respond to contact forces through bidirectional transmission of tactile information. To achieve this, the e-skin they developed integrates multimodal magnetic touch sensing with vibration feedback.
E-skin combines a flexible magnetic film, silicone elastomer, Hall sensor array, actuator array and microcontroller unit. The Hall sensor detects the deformation of the magnetic film caused by mechanical pressure, causing changes in the magnetic field, thus achieving multidimensional touch perception. At the same time, the actuator array produces mechanical vibration to provide haptic feedback, improving the interaction experience between humans and robots.
Dr. Ding and colleagues tested the e-skin prototype in a series of experiments, also exploring its potential for three main possible applications: object recognition, precision weighing, and immersive HRI. E-skin was found to be effective in both detecting tactile information and producing tactile feedback.
A weighing experiment was chosen because it uses haptic vibrations in unexpected and creative ways. In addition, the speed of the precision weighing process can be controlled and the control accuracy can be improved up to ~0.0246 g to meet daily requirements. Dual-mode haptic e-skin could advance robotic manipulation, enable more precise control in industrial robots, and open new avenues in the development of advanced prosthetic limbs.
Dr. Ding noted the focuses of future research and development: miniaturization of e-skin components, integration of new sensing methods such as temperature sensing, and the addition of auditory feedback. These advances aim to enhance sensory experience and improve human-machine collaboration.
Compiled by: Esin Özcan