The development of an electronic skin is critical to the realization of artificial intelligence that comes into direct contact with humans, and to biomedical applications such as prosthetic skin. To mimic the tactile sensing properties of natural skin, large arrays of pixel pressure sensors on a flexible and stretchable substrate are required. We demonstrate flexible, capacitive pressure sensors with unprecedented sensitivity and very short response times that can be inexpensively fabricated over large areas by microstructuring of thin films of the biocompatible elastomer polydimethylsiloxane. The pressure sensitivity of the microstructured films far surpassed that exhibited by unstructured elastomeric films of similar thickness, and is tunable by using different microstructures. The microstructured films were integrated into organic field-effect transistors as the dielectric layer, forming a new type of active sensor device with similarly excellent sensitivity and response times.

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Highly sensitive flexible pressure sensors with microstructured rubber dielectric layers

Human skin is a remarkable organ. It consists of an integrated, stretchable network of sensors that relay information about tactile and thermal stimuli to the brain, allowing us to maneuver within our environment safely and effectively. Interest in large-area networks of electronic devices inspired by human skin is motivated by the promise of creating autonomous intelligent robots and biomimetic prosthetics, among other applications. The development of electronic networks comprised of flexible, stretchable, and robust devices that are compatible with large-area implementation and integrated with multiple functionalities is a testament to the progress in developing an electronic skin (e-skin) akin to human skin. E-skins are already capable of providing augmented performance over their organic counterpart, both in superior spatial resolution and thermal sensitivity. They could be further improved through the incorporation of additional functionalities (e.g., chemical and biological sensing) and desired properties (e.g., biodegradability and self-powering). Continued rapid progress in this area is promising for the development of a fully integrated e-skin in the near future.

25th Anniversary Article: The Evolution of Electronic Skin (E-Skin): A Brief History, Design Considerations, and Recent Progress

Flexible pressure sensors are essential parts of an electronic skin to allow future biomedical prostheses and robots to naturally interact with humans and the environment. Mobile biomonitoring in long-term medical diagnostics is another attractive application for these sensors. Here we report the fabrication of flexible pressure-sensitive organic thin film transistors with a maximum sensitivity of 8.4 kPa(-1), a fast response time of 15,000 cycles and a low power consumption of <1 mW. The combination of a microstructured polydimethylsiloxane dielectric and the high-mobility semiconducting polyisoindigobithiophene-siloxane in a monolithic transistor design enabled us to operate the devices in the subthreshold regime, where the capacitance change upon compression of the dielectric is strongly amplified. We demonstrate that our sensors can be used for non-invasive, high fidelity, continuous radial artery pulse wave monitoring, which may lead to the use of flexible pressure sensors in mobile health monitoring and remote diagnostics in cardiovascular medicine.

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Flexible polymer transistors with high pressure sensitivity for application in electronic skin and health monitoring

Flexible and transparent E-skin devices are achieved by combining silk-molded micro-patterned polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) with single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) ultrathin films. The E-skin sensing device demonstrates superior sensitivity, a very low detectable pressure limit, a fast response time, and a high stability for the detection of superslight pressures, which may broaden their potential use as cost-effective wearable electronics for healthcare applications.

Silk-molded flexible, ultrasensitive, and highly stable electronic skin for monitoring human physiological signals

As the field of robotics is expanding from the fixed environment of a production line to complex human environments, robots are required to perform increasingly human-like manipulation tasks, moving the state-of-the-art in robotics from grasping to advanced in-hand manipulation tasks such as regrasping, rotation and translation. To achieve advanced in-hand manipulation tasks, robotic hands are required to be equipped with distributed tactile sensing that can continuously provide information about the magnitude and direction of forces at all contact points between them and the objects they are interacting with. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art in force and tactile sensing technologies that can be suitable within the specific context of dexterous in-hand manipulation. In previous reviews of tactile sensing for robotic manipulation, the specific functional and technical requirements of dexterous in-hand manipulation, as compared to grasping, are in general not taken into account. This paper provides a review of models describing human hand activity and movements, and a set of functional and technical specifications for in-hand manipulation is defined. The paper proceeds to review the current state-of-the-art tactile sensor solutions that fulfil or can fulfil these criteria. An analytical comparison of the reviewed solutions is presented, and the advantages and disadvantages of different sensing technologies are compared.

Tactile sensing for dexterous in-hand manipulation in robotics-A review

A mechanical sensor based on a pentacene field effect transistor has been fabricated. The pressure dependence of the output current has been investigated by applying a mechanical stimulus by means of a pressurized air flow. Experimental results show a reversible current dependence on pressure. Data analysis suggests that variations of threshold voltage, mobility and contact resistance are responsible for current variations. Thanks to the flexibility of the substrate and the low cost of the technology, this device opens the way for flexible mechanical sensors that can be used in a variety of innovative applications such as e-textiles and robotic interfaces.

Pressure sensing by flexible, organic, field effect transistors

We have fabricated the first example of totally flexible field effect device for chemical detection based on an organic field effect transistor (OFET) made by pentacene films grown on flexible plastic structures. The ion sensitivity is achieved by employing a thin Mylar foil as gate dielectric. A sensitivity of the device to the pH of the electrolyte solution has been observed. A similar structure can be used also for detecting mechanical deformations on flexible surfaces. Thanks to the flexibility of the substrate and the low cost of the employed technology, these devices open the way for the production of flexible chemical and strain gauge sensors that can be employed in a variety of innovative applications such as wearable electronics, e-textiles, new man-machine interfaces.

A. Sulis

Papers

Pressure sensing by flexible, organic, field effect transistors

Organic semiconductor field effect transistors for unconventional applications: flexible sensors and wearable devices