Intelligent Robotic Sensory System with Epidermis‐Dermis Bionic Electronic Skin for Autonomous Hardness/Softness‐Based Material Perception

Abstract

Traditional electronic skin (e‐skin), due to the lack of human‐skin‐like complex sensitive structures and their derived autonomous perception and decision‐making capabilities of the tactile nervous system, makes it difficult to achieve performance and deep‐level intelligence comparable to human skin. Herein, a soft/hardware‐synergy‐motivated epidermis‐dermis bionic (EDB) e‐skin is proposed, inspired by the interlaced papillary projections between the epidermis and dermis. Benefiting from the interlocked microdome structures and the iontronic effect, the EDB e‐skin exhibits a maximum sensitivity of 1558.3 kPa−1 (<1 kPa), a low limit of detection of <0.01 Pa, and a fast response/recovery time of <5.6 ms. In addition, the feasibility of the hardness/softness‐based material perception technology is verified through test results and COMSOL finite element analysis. Further, after being equipped with a “tactile nervous system”, that is, hardware functional modules and terminal artificial neural networks, an intelligent robotic sensory system integrated with the fingertips is developed. With a single touch, this system can autonomously and in real‐time perceive different hardness/softness‐based materials, achieving abilities comparable to those of humans.