Development of Flexible Robot Skin for Safe and Natural Human⁻Robot Collaboration

Area of Science:

• Robotics
• Materials Science
• Sensor Technology

Background:

• Collaborative industrial robots require enhanced safety for human-robot interaction.
• Existing systems lack intuitive tactile feedback, posing safety challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and fabricate a 3D flexible robot skin for collaborative robots.
• To improve the safety and tactile perception of industrial robots.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a 3D flexible robot skin using piezoresistive nanocomposite.
• Development of a sensing unit with force-input/resistance-output correspondence.
• Design of a readout circuit to suppress crosstalk and sample tactile data.

Main Results:

• The sensing unit demonstrated a 1:1 force-resistance relationship (0-6.5 N) with high sensitivity (18.83% N⁻¹ at 6.5 N).
• The sensor showed good reproducibility over 3500 cycles (0-5.5 N at 0.65 Hz).
• Real-time estimation of contact/collision forces was achieved.

Conclusions:

• The developed robot skin provides tactile perception, mimicking human skin.
• This technology offers an efficient approach for natural and secure human-robot interaction in industrial settings.