Sensitive skin, also known as sensate skin or electronic skin (e-skin), is an electronic sensing skin placed on the surface of a machine such as a robotic arm. The goal of the skin is to sense important environmental parameters—such as proximity to objects, heat, moisture, and direct touch sensations. Examples of a sensitive skin have been made by a group at the
University of Tokyo
, abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...
led by Prof. Takao Someya.
The group's work has been published in
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...
,
Science
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
and
Advanced Materials
''Advanced Materials'' is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering materials science. It includes communications, reviews, and feature articles on topics in chemistry, physics, nanotechnology, ceramics, metallurgy, and biomaterials. Acco ...
journals, as well as ''Proceedings of the (United States)
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
''. They have demonstrated pressure and temperature measurements at a resolution of a few millimeters, as well as
organic transistors,
organic solar cell
An organic solar cell (OSC) or plastic solar cell is a type of photovoltaic that uses organic electronics, a branch of electronics that deals with conductive organic polymers or small organic molecules, for light absorption and charge transport t ...
s, and
organic light emitting diode
An organic light-emitting diode (OLED or organic LED), also known as organic electroluminescent (organic EL) diode, is a light-emitting diode (LED) in which the emissive electroluminescent layer is a film of organic compound that emits light i ...
s about 1 μm thick.
The sensor arrays are based on many organic thin film transistors that are turned on one at a time and the current that flows through the sensor (
electrical resistance
The electrical resistance of an object is a measure of its opposition to the flow of electric current. Its reciprocal quantity is , measuring the ease with which an electric current passes. Electrical resistance shares some conceptual parallels ...
-based) tells you how much pressure is being sensed. They have simultaneously measured pressure and temperature by using two separate arrays and laying one on top of another.
See also
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Electronic nose
An electronic nose is an electronic sensing device intended to detect odors or flavors. The expression "electronic sensing" refers to the capability of reproducing human senses using sensor arrays and pattern recognition systems.
Since 1982, rese ...
*
Electronic skin Electronic skin refers to flexible, stretchable and self-healing electronics that are able to mimic functionalities of human or animal skin. The broad class of materials often contain sensing abilities that are intended to reproduce the capabilitie ...
*
Tactile sensor
A tactile sensor is a device that measures information arising from physical interaction with its environment. Tactile sensors are generally modeled after the biological sense of cutaneous receptor, cutaneous touch which is capable of detecti ...
References
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Takao Someya Group at University of Tokyo
Robotic sensing
Medical equipment