A cutaneous receptors-mimicking system for real-time and multimodal detection of tactile stimuli

Abstract A human can intuitively perceive and comprehend complicated tactile information, when interacting with objects, owing to the different cutaneous receptors distributed in the fingertip skin. Many research groups have attempted to mimic the structure and receptors of the skin to develop next-generation tactile sensors that can precisely and seamlessly deliver the overall tactile sensation. In this study, we propose a real-time multimodal tactile system that mimics the sensing qualities of cutaneous receptors entirely by simultaneously acquiring four types of decoupled tactile information in real time using multiple sensors integrated into three dimensions (3D), a signal-processing module, and a transmission module. The interconnections between 3D-integrated sensors and the signal-processing module were manufactured by 3D printing methods to have an adaptable shape. Furthermore, the proposed system can differentiate between various tactile stimuli, texture characteristics, and consecutive complex motions depending on the decoupled tactile sensing signals of pressure, shear force, vibration, and temperature. We believe that the results of this study can provide a novel design for a skin-like, perceivable, tactile sensing system for application in soft robotics, human-machine interfaces, health monitoring systems, and biomedical devices.