Self-Powered Analogue Smart Skin

TLDR

Smart skin technology offers unprecedented AI opportunities, but improving resolution and energy efficiency is essential for better perception and longer standby times in robots. The study introduces a self‑powered analogue smart skin that detects contact location and velocity using a single‑electrode contact‑electrification effect and planar electrostatic induction. The skin employs a single‑electrode contact‑electrification effect coupled with planar electrostatic induction, leverages triboelectricity to eliminate external power, and uses microstructured PDMS films with silver nanowire electrodes to achieve transparent, flexible, and highly sensitive coverage. The skin achieves 1.9 mm resolution with only four terminals, can detect subtle perturbations such as a honey bee, and eliminates the need for batteries and wiring.

Abstract

The progress of smart skin technology presents unprecedented opportunities for artificial intelligence. Resolution enhancement and energy conservation are critical to improve the perception and standby time of robots. Here, we present a self-powered analogue smart skin for detecting contact location and velocity of the object, based on a single-electrode contact electrification effect and planar electrostatic induction. Using an analogue localizing method, the resolution of this two-dimensional smart skin can be achieved at 1.9 mm with only four terminals, which notably decreases the terminal number of smart skins. The sensitivity of this smart skin is remarkable, which can even perceive the perturbation of a honey bee. Meanwhile, benefiting from the triboelectric mechanism, extra power supply is unnecessary for this smart skin. Therefore, it solves the problems of batteries and connecting wires for smart skins. With microstructured poly(dimethylsiloxane) films and silver nanowire electrodes, it can be covered on the skin with transparency, flexibility, and high sensitivity.