Electronic skin anticipates and perceives touch from different
directions for the first time

Date:
April 27, 2022
Source:
Chemnitz University of Technology
Summary:
Scientists have developed a new approach for miniaturization of soft
ultra-compact and highly integrated sensor units for directional
tactile sensitivity in e-skin systems.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A research team from Chemnitz and Dresden has taken a major step
forward in the development of sensitive electronic skin (e-skin)
with integrated artificial hairs. E-skins are flexible electronic
systems that try to mimic the sensitivity of their natural human
skin counterparts. Applications range from skin replacement and
medical sensors on the body to artificial skin for humanoid robots and androids. Tiny surface hairs can perceive and anticipate the slightest
tactile sensation on human skin and even recognize the direction of
touch. Modern electronic skin systems lack this capability and cannot
gather this critical information about their vicinity.


==========================================================================
A research team led by Prof. Dr. Oliver G. Schmidt, head of the
Professorship of Material Systems for Nanoelectronics as well as
Scientific Director of the Research Center for Materials, Architectures
and Integration of Nanomembranes (MAIN) at Chemnitz University of
Technology, has explored a new avenue to develop extremely sensitive and direction-dependent 3D magnetic field sensors that can be integrated into
an e-skin system (active matrix). The team used a completely new approach
for miniaturization and integration of 3D device arrays and made a major
step towards mimicking the natural touch of human skin. The researchers
have reported their results in the current issue of the journal Nature Communications.

Christian Becker, PhD student in Prof. Schmidt's research group at MAIN
and first author of the study says: "Our approach allows a precise
spatial arrangement of functional sensor elements in 3D that can be mass-produced in a parallel manufacturing process. Such sensor systems
are extremely difficult to generate by established microelectronic
fabrication methods." New approach: Elegant origami technology
integrates 3D sensors with microelectronic circuitry The core of the
sensor system presented by the research team is a so-called anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) sensor. An AMR sensor can be used to precisely determine changes in magnetic fields. AMR sensors are currently used,
for example, as speed sensors in cars or to determine the position and
angle of moving components in a variety of machines.

To develop the highly compact sensor system, the researchers took
advantage of the so-called "micro-origami process." This process is used
to fold AMR sensor components into three-dimensional architectures that
can resolve the magnetic vector field in three dimensions. Micro-origami
allows a large number of microelectronic components to fit into small
space and arrange them in a geometry that is not achievable by any
conventional microfabrication technologies. "Micro-origami processes
were developed more than 20 years ago, and it is wonderful to see how
the full potential of this elegant technology can now be exploited for
novel microelectronic applications," says Prof. Oliver G. Schmidt.

The research team integrated the 3D micro-origami magnetic sensor
array into a single active matrix, where each individual sensor can be conveniently addressed and read-out by microelectronic circuitry. "The combination of active-matrix magnetic sensors with self-assembling micro-origami architectures is a completely new approach to miniaturize
and integrate high-resolution 3D sensing systems," says Dr. Daniil Karnaushenko, who contributed decisively towards the concept, design
and implementation of the project.

Tiny hairs anticipate and perceive direction of touch in real time The
research team has succeeded in integrating the 3D magnetic field sensors
with magnetically rooted fine hairs into an artificial e-skin. The e-skin
is made of an elastomeric material into which the electronics and sensors
are embedded -- similar to organic skin, which is interlaced with nerves.

When the hair is touched and bends, the movement and exact position
of the magnetic root can be detected by the underlying 3D magnetic
sensors. The sensor matrix is therefore not only able to register the
bare movement of the hair, but also determines the exact direction of the movement. As with real human skin, each hair on an e-skin becomes a full
sensor unit that can perceive and detect changes in the vicinity. The magneto-mechanical coupling between 3D magnetic sensor and magnetic hair
root in real-time provides a new type of touch-sensitive perception by
an e-skin system. This capability is of great importance when humans
and robots work closely together. For instance, the robot can sense interactions with a human companion well in advance with many details
just before an intended contact or an unintended collision is about to
take place.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
Chemnitz_University_of_Technology. Note: Content may be edited for style
and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Christian Becker, Bin Bao, Dmitriy D. Karnaushenko, Vineeth Kumar
Bandari, Boris Rivkin, Zhe Li, Maryam Faghih, Daniil Karnaushenko,
Oliver G. Schmidt. A new dimension for magnetosensitive e-skins:
active matrix integrated micro-origami sensor arrays. Nature
Communications, 2022; 13 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29802-7 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220427115742.htm

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