Bioinspired electronic-skin for proximity and pressure detection in robot active sensing

Abstract

Active sensing technology plays an essential role in environment–robot interactions. Inspired by the proximity sensing approach of weakly electric fish, which relies on distributed electroreceptors capable of detecting electric fields, we propose a flexible electronic skin (e-skin) for proximity and pressure detection. Conductive thermoplastic polyurethane and dielectric polyurethane are employed for fabricating flexible electrodes and substrates, respectively. An Ecoflex-based elastic layer enables proximity and pressure information to be decoupled from the electric field. The proposed e-skin can detect objects up to 160 mm away while performing real-time proximity and pressure sensing. Finally, we demonstrate that robots equipped with the e-skin can easily explore their surroundings and perform specific tasks such as recognition, avoidance, and grasping. Because of its proximity and pressure sensing capabilities and low-cost fabrication process, the e-skin has broad application potential for robot active sensing.