Tactile sensing technology in bionic skin: A review

Chunge Wang; Chen Liu; Fangfang Shang; Shiya Niu; Lunan Ke; Ning Zhang; Bangbang Ma; Rongzhi Li; Xu Sun; Sheng Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.bios.2022.114882

Tactile sensing technology in bionic skin: A review

Biosens Bioelectron. 2023 Jan 15:220:114882. doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2022.114882. Epub 2022 Nov 5.

Authors

Chunge Wang¹, Chen Liu², Fangfang Shang¹, Shiya Niu³, Lunan Ke⁴, Ning Zhang¹, Bangbang Ma⁴, Rongzhi Li², Xu Sun⁵, Sheng Zhang⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Ningbo Tech University, Ningbo, 315100, China; Ningbo Innovation Center, Zhejiang University, Ningbo, 315100, China.
² School of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Ningbo Tech University, Ningbo, 315100, China; Ningbo Innovation Center, Zhejiang University, Ningbo, 315100, China; Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Ningbo, Ningbo, 315100, China.
³ School of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Ningbo Tech University, Ningbo, 315100, China; Key Laboratory of Advanced Forging & Stamping Technology and Science, College of Mechanical Engineering, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, 066004, China.
⁴ School of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Ningbo Tech University, Ningbo, 315100, China; Ningbo Innovation Center, Zhejiang University, Ningbo, 315100, China; Key Laboratory of Advanced Forging & Stamping Technology and Science, College of Mechanical Engineering, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, 066004, China.
⁵ Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Ningbo, Ningbo, 315100, China. Electronic address: xu.sun@nottingham.edu.cn.
⁶ School of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Ningbo Tech University, Ningbo, 315100, China; Ningbo Innovation Center, Zhejiang University, Ningbo, 315100, China; Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Ningbo, Ningbo, 315100, China. Electronic address: szhang1984@zju.edu.cn.

PMID: 36399940
DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2022.114882

Abstract

Bionic skin has shown great potential in the fields of multifunctional robots and medical care. The tactile sensor, an important part of bionic skin, is used to measure the temperature, humidity, pressure, vibration, and other physical quantities including the external environment, object shape, and structure size. As a result, tactile sensors can be applied as epidermal sensors amounted on human skin to monitor the health and motion of users, and applied on soft robotics to help robots sense the environment information around. This paper analyzes and discusses the research progress of tactile sensing technology applied in bionic skin in recent years, including capacitive tactile sensors, piezoresistive tactile sensors, piezoelectric tactile sensors, photoelectric tactile sensors, magnetic tactile sensors, electrochemical sensors, and multi-component tactile sensors. In addition, the principle of each tactile sensor, advantages and disadvantages of various tactile sensors, and their practical applications in various fields are summarized. Finally, the future research direction of bionic skin sensing technology is outlooked.

Keywords: Bionic skin; Electrochemical sensor; Multi-component sensor; Photoelectric sensor; Sensor; Tactile sensor.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Bionics*
Biosensing Techniques*
Epidermis
Humans
Skin
Technology