For the first time in the world! Chinese scientists have developed ultra-realistic electronic skin that can sense pressure and friction ..
on June 4 that according to the official website of Tsinghua University, the research team of Professor Zhang Yihui from the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Flexible Electronics Technology Laboratory of Tsinghua University has developed the world's first new electronic skin system with a bionic three-dimensional architecture ..
It is reported that human skin has many tactile receptor cells that are densely arranged and distributed in three dimensions, which can accurately sense external stimuli. At present, no electronic skin has achieved the synchronous decoupled perception of multiple mechanical signals such as pressure, shear force, and strain at the physical level..
Inspired by the spatial distribution of mechanical receptors in human skin, Professor Zhang Yihui's research group proposed a new electronic skin design concept with a three-dimensional architecture. The three-dimensional distribution of force and strain sensors in its structure imitates the spatial distribution of Merkel cells and Ruffini corpuscles in human skin, enabling the device to measure pressure, shear force (reported as "friction") and strain in a decoupled manner at the physical level .
The bionic three-dimensional electronic skin is composed of the "epidermis", "dermis" and "subcutaneous tissue", and the texture of each part is similar to the corresponding layer in human skin. The sensors and circuits are mainly located in the "dermis" layer, and the force sensing unit is designed as an eight-arm cage structure. The sensor is located in the upper part of the cage structure, close to the surface of the electronic skin, and is highly sensitive to external forces.
Based on this electronic skin with a three-dimensional structure and combined with deep machine learning algorithms, the research team has developed an advanced tactile system that can simultaneously measure the modulus and local principal curvature of an object simply by touch.
The relevant research results of this project were published in Science on May 30 this year under the title "A Three-Dimensionally Architected Electronic Skin Mimicking Human Mechanosensation".