Wang Yilin, Zhao Jiafeng, Zeng Xu, Huang Jingwen, Wen Yading, Brugger Juergen, Zhang Xiaosheng
School of Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China.
Microsystems Laboratory, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland.
Adv Sci (Weinh). 2024 Jul;11(26):e2400479. doi: 10.1002/advs.202400479. Epub 2024 May 2.
Electronic skins are expected to replicate a human-like tactile sense, which significantly detects surface information, including geometry, material, and temperature. Although most texture features can be sensed in the horizontal direction, the lack of effective approaches for detecting vertical properties limits the development of artificial skin based on tactile sensors. In this study, an all-printed finger-inspired tactile sensor array is developed to realize the 3D detection and reconstruction of microscale structures. A beam structure with a suspended multilayer membrane is proposed, and a tactile sensor array of 12 units arranged in a dual-column layout is developed. This architecture enables the tactile sensor array to obtain comprehensive geometric information of micro-textures, including 3D morphology and clearance characteristics, and optimizes the 3D reconstruction patterns by self-calibration. Moreover, an innovative screen-printing technology incorporating multilayer printing and sacrificial-layer techniques is adopted to print the entire device. In additon, a Braille recognition system utilizing this tactile sensor array is developed to interpret Shakespeare's quotes printed in Grade 2 Braille. The abovementioned demonstrations reveal an attractive future vision for endowing bioinspired robots with the unique capability of touching and feeling the microscale real world and reconstructing it in the cyber world.
电子皮肤有望复制类似人类的触觉，这种触觉能显著检测包括几何形状、材料和温度在内的表面信息。尽管大多数纹理特征可以在水平方向上被感知，但缺乏检测垂直特性的有效方法限制了基于触觉传感器的人造皮肤的发展。在本研究中，开发了一种全印刷的仿手指触觉传感器阵列，以实现微观结构的三维检测和重建。提出了一种具有悬浮多层膜的梁结构，并开发了一种以双列布局排列的12单元触觉传感器阵列。这种架构使触觉传感器阵列能够获得微观纹理的全面几何信息，包括三维形态和间隙特征，并通过自校准优化三维重建模式。此外，采用了一种结合多层印刷和牺牲层技术的创新丝网印刷技术来印刷整个器件。另外，利用这种触觉传感器阵列开发了一种盲文识别系统，用于解读用二级盲文印刷的莎士比亚名言。上述展示揭示了一个有吸引力的未来愿景，即赋予受生物启发的机器人触摸和感知微观现实世界并在网络世界中重建它的独特能力。
