Artificial Skin Brings Reflex-Like Sensing To Robots

(MENAFN- The Arabian Post) Researchers at the City University of Hong Kong have developed an artificial skin that mimics key functions of the human nervous system, marking a step towards robots that can feel touch, detect injury and react instinctively to harmful contact. The neuromorphic“e-skin”, created by a team led by materials scientist Yuyu Gao, converts physical pressure into electrical signals resembling neural pulses, allowing machines to distinguish between gentle contact and potentially damaging force.

The advance addresses a long-standing limitation in robotics. While humanoid robots have made progress in movement, vision and speech, most still lack a sense of touch comparable to biological systems. Existing tactile sensors often measure pressure in a linear, mechanical way, without the capacity to interpret sensations or trigger rapid protective responses. The new e-skin is designed to bridge that gap by combining materials engineering with neuromorphic computing principles inspired by how nerves encode sensory information.

According to the research team, the artificial skin is built in layered structures that mirror aspects of human skin, including sensory receptors and neural pathways. When pressure is applied, the layers translate the stimulus into electrical spikes whose frequency and pattern change depending on the intensity of the force. Light contact generates sparse, low-frequency pulses, while stronger pressure produces rapid, high-frequency signals akin to those associated with pain in biological nerves.

This distinction is critical for robots operating alongside people. A humanoid robot equipped with such skin could recognise when a touch is benign, such as a handshake, and when it poses a risk, such as a collision or excessive load on a joint. In the latter case, the system can trigger reflex-like actions, including withdrawing a limb or reducing applied force, to prevent damage to itself or to humans nearby.

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Laboratory demonstrations have shown that the e-skin can detect a wide range of pressures with high sensitivity and respond within milliseconds. The researchers report that the signal processing occurs locally within the material system, reducing the need for complex external computation. This decentralised approach mirrors biological reflex arcs, where certain responses are handled by the spinal cord rather than the brain, allowing for speed and efficiency.

The work builds on growing interest in neuromorphic engineering, a field that seeks to emulate neural architectures using electronic or material-based systems. By embedding sensing and signal processing into the skin itself, the City University of Hong Kong team aims to overcome bottlenecks associated with transmitting raw sensor data to a central processor. Such bottlenecks have limited the scalability of tactile sensing in large or highly articulated robots.

Beyond robotics, the technology has implications for prosthetics and wearable devices. Artificial limbs fitted with e-skin could provide users with more nuanced tactile feedback, improving dexterity and reducing the risk of injury. In medical rehabilitation, responsive surfaces could help monitor pressure points and prevent tissue damage in patients with limited sensation.

Experts in soft robotics and materials science note that durability and manufacturability will be key challenges as the technology moves beyond the laboratory. Artificial skins must withstand repeated deformation, exposure to environmental factors and long-term use without degradation of performance. The research team reports that the current prototypes maintain stable responses over thousands of pressure cycles, though further testing will be needed to assess longevity under real-world conditions.

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Another hurdle lies in integrating the e-skin with existing robotic platforms. Robots vary widely in shape, scale and mechanical design, and retrofitting advanced tactile systems can be complex. The researchers suggest that the thin, flexible nature of their material makes it suitable for conformal coverage of curved surfaces, including hands, arms and torsos, which are critical areas for human–robot interaction.

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