CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100083, China.
School of Nanoscience and Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
Adv Mater. 2021 Jun;33(24):e2101891. doi: 10.1002/adma.202101891. Epub 2021 May 8.
Touch sensing is among the most important sensing capabilities of a human, and the same is true for smart robotics. Current research on tactile sensors is mainly concentrated on electronic skin (e-skin), but e-skin is prone to be easily dirtied, damaged, and disturbed after repeated usage, which greatly limits its practical applications in robotics. Here, by mimicking the way that animals explore the environment using hair-based sensors, a bendable biomimetic whisker mechanoreceptor (BWMR) is designed for robotic tactile sensing. Owing to the advantages of triboelectric nanogenerator technology, the BWMR can convert external mechanical stimuli into electrical signals without a power supply, which is conducive to its widespread applications in robots. Because of the leverage effect of the whisker, the BWMR can distinguish an exciting force of 1.129 μN by amplifying external weak signals, which can be further improved by increasing the whisker length. Real-time sensing is demonstrated using a BWMR, exhibiting its potential for robotic tactile systems.
触觉是人类最重要的感知能力之一，对智能机器人也是如此。目前，触觉传感器的研究主要集中在电子皮肤 (e-skin) 上，但 e-skin 容易在反复使用后被污染、损坏和干扰，这极大地限制了其在机器人技术中的实际应用。在这里，通过模仿动物利用毛发传感器探索环境的方式，设计了一种用于机器人触觉感应的柔韧仿生触须机械感受器 (BWMR)。由于摩擦纳米发电机技术的优势，BWMR 可以将外部机械刺激转化为电信号，而无需电源，这有利于其在机器人中的广泛应用。由于触须的杠杆作用，BWMR 可以通过放大外部弱信号来区分 1.129 μN 的激励力，通过增加触须长度可以进一步提高其灵敏度。使用 BWMR 进行实时感应，展示了其在机器人触觉系统中的潜力。
