Artificial sensitive skin

Fig. 16.4. A measured waveform of electronic artificial skin. When pressure is applied to the sensor matrix, the pressure-sensitive rubber becomes conductive and the bit line is pulled up to the supply voltage. (I) Input signals of...

For the last 10 years the fundamentals of a MEMS technique based on temperature-sensitive polymers have been developed by our group at the Technische Universitat Dresden. In 2008 the first highly integrated hydrogel-based MEMS named artificial skin was presented (Richter and Paschew 2009). 

Besides microfluidics the human-machine interaction, especially the imaging systems, could enormously benefit from the availability of large-scale integrated actuator systems. Such systems could provide an additional mechanical data channel intended for the sense of touch of the human, which is a very sensitive aesthesia. A first impression about the performance of a high-resolution tactile display gives the artificial skin (Fig. 15a). 

FIGURE 6.3.2 An image of electronic artificial skin attached on the robot surface. A plastic film with organic transistors, a pressure-sensitive rubber sheet, and a plastic film with top electrodes are laminated together to form a large-area pressure sensor. Some parts of films are removed intentionally to show the inner structures. 

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