A skin-inspired organic digital mechanoreceptor

TLDR

Our skin provides a flexible waterproof barrier and a sensor array that feels the world, enabling feedback to avoid hot objects or adjust grip strength when an object may slip. The study proposes to simulate human skin mechanoreceptors using pressure‑sensitive foils and printed ring oscillators. The approach employs pressure‑sensitive foils and printed ring oscillators to emulate mechanoreceptor function. The sensor successfully converted pressure into a digital response across a pressure range comparable to that found in a human grip. Tee et al., Science, this issue, pp.

Abstract

Sensing the force digitally Our skin provides us with a flexible waterproof barrier, but it also contains a sensor array that feels the world around us. This array provides feedback and helps us to avoid a hot object or increase the strength of our grip on an object that may be slipping away. Tee et al. describe an approach to simulate the mechanoreceptors of human skin, using pressure-sensitive foils and printed ring oscillators (see the Perspective by Anikeeva and Koppes). The sensor successfully converted pressure into a digital response in a pressure range comparable to that found in a human grip. Science , this issue p. 313 ; see also p. 274