Skin-inspired Multi-Modal Mechanoreceptors for Dynamic Haptic Exploration.

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Abstract

Active sensing is a fundamental aspect of human and animal interactions with the environment, providing essential information about the hardness, texture, and tackiness of objects. This ability stems from the presence of diverse mechanoreceptors in our skin, capable of detecting a wide range of stimuli and from the sensorimotor control of biological mechanism. In contrast, existing tactile sensors for robotic applications typically excel in identifying only limited types of information, lacking the versatility of biological mechanoreceptors and the requisite sensing strategies to extract tactile information proactively. Here, inspired by human haptic perception, we develop a skin-inspired artificial 3D mechanoreceptor (SENS) capable of detecting multiple mechanical stimuli to bridge sensing and action in a closed-loop sensorimotor system for dynamic haptic exploration. A tensor-based non-linear theoretical model is established to characterize the 3D deformation (e.g., tensile, compressive and shear deformation) of SENS, providing guidance for the design and optimization of multimode sensing properties with high fidelity. Based on SENS, we further demonstrate a closed-loop robotic system capable of recognizing objects with improved accuracy (∼96%). This dynamic haptic exploration approach shows promise for a wide range of applications such as autonomous learning, healthcare, and space and deep-sea exploration. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.