Flexible Electronic Device with Multifunctional Tactile Perception for Enhanced Robotic Interaction

Abstract

The augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) for human-machine interactions (HMI) have been greatly attracted in industry. These interactive devices are still bulky and lack accurate tactile perception, which limits their applications in HMI. Here, we proposed a novel flexible electronic device with multifunctional tactile sensing for the interaction with robots. The electronic device was designed using pressure sensing layer and tactile pixel array layer for separate contact force, force angle, and sliding distance sensing. Notably, the helical patterned tactile pixel array can achieve high resolution of force angle detection. Characterization tests showed that the flexible electronic device has a wide force sensing range of 0.8 ~ 6.0 N with a sensitivity of 0.358 N<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-1</sup>, and force angle detection resolution is 0.84°. Then, the device was integrated to construct a robotic interaction system for experimental tests. The results showed that our device can simultaneously measure the contact force, force angle, and sliding displacement when a finger touches the device. The tactile signals can be used for controlling robotic movements. The displacement detection accuracy of robotic arm was less than 1.0 mm, and time delay was less than 200 ms, demonstrating that our device can offer effective interactions with robots and humans.