Humanoid Ionotronic Skin for Smart Object Recognition and Sorting

Abstract

Nowadays, there is an urgent need for humanoid robots containing human finger-like electronic skins with mechanical endurance and tactile perception. This study reports the development of an ionotronic skin-based humanoid robot hand that can recognize objects precisely through finger tapping or touching. The ionotronic skin is composed of a cytoskeleton-like filament network structure and possesses mechanical properties highly akin to human skins, including softness (Young’s modulus of 51 ± 15 MPa), toughness (1.6 ± 0.7 MJ m–3), and antifatigue-fracture ability. In addition, the i-skin functions as a triboelectric nanogenerator with the ability to perceive the triboelectric signals of an object when in contact with it. By combining triboelectric sensing information, machine learning, and Internet of Things techniques, the humanoid robot hand can accurately recognize different materials among a diverse set of spherical objects and further deliver them to the designated location. The high sorting success rate of 97.2% in 600 tests of recognizing five types of spherical objects, together with the outstanding mechanical and environmental tolerance, allow such humanoid robot hands to be used for intelligent sorting, automatic operation, and assembly in unmanned factories, as well as for the classification of garbage and hazardous materials.

Mechanoluminescent-Triboelectric Bimodal Sensors for Self-Powered Sensing and Intelligent Control

“…Machine learning can be used for handwritten digit recognition through various algorithms [ 63 , 64 ]. Random forest (RF) algorithm, which integrates multiple decision trees through the idea of integrated learning, was used to recognize the handwriting digital images [ 65 – 67 ].…”

Deep-Learning Enabled Active Biomimetic Multifunctional Hydrogel Electronic Skin

“…Human skin is extremely crucial for its protective, immunological, and tactile functions. Inspired by the natural human skin, scientists have developed various types of electronic skins (e-skins). , The tactile sensing capability is critical for these electronic skins; for example, it allows intelligent robots to interact effectively with their environment. , A variety of pressure sensing techniques have been developed for e-skins based on various mechanisms such as piezoresistive, , capacitive, , piezoelectric, , and triboelectric ones. , In addition to pressure sensing, identification/recognition of different types of material or texture/roughness is also essential for the e-skin, especially when the robots are required to have real intelligence to interact with their surroundings. − However, so far, a comprehensive e-skin, which can simultaneously detect the pressure, material/substance, and texture/roughness, has rarely been reported.…”

A Fully Self‐Healing and Highly Stretchable Liquid‐Free Ionic Conductive Elastomer for Soft Ionotronics

“…[3] Meanwhile, the elasticity of soft ionic conductors makes them suitable for the design of bionic devices. [4] Common soft ionic conductors include hydrogels [5][6][7][8] and ionogels, [9,10] which have been applied in various flexible electronic devices such as ionic skin, [11,12] alternating-current electroluminescent (ACEL) device, [13,14] and triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), [15,16] thanks to their excellent ionic conductivity and optical transparency.…”