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Somatosensation

Somatosensation

The somatosensory system relays sensory information from the skin, mucous membranes, limbs, and joints. Somatosensation is more familiarly known as the sense of touch. A typical somatosensory pathway includes three types of long neurons: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary neurons have cell bodies located near the spinal cord in groups of neurons called dorsal root ganglia. The sensory neurons of ganglia innervate designated areas of skin called dermatomes.

Sensory Functions of the Skin

Sensory Functions of the Skin

The skin is the largest organ of the human body and plays a crucial role in our sensory perception. It contains a vast network of sensory receptors that contribute to the skin's protective function by perceiving physical, biological, and environmental cues and generating relevant responses.
There are two main categories of receptors on the skin: capsulated and non-capsulated. The non-capsulated ones are mainly the pain receptors. The capsulated ones can be further categorized based on the...

Design Example: Resistive Touchscreen

Design Example: Resistive Touchscreen

A device engineer plays a crucial role in designing user interfaces for mobile devices. One such interface is the resistive touchscreen, which fundamentally consists of two metallic layers: a flexible upper layer and a rigid lower layer, separated by a narrow gap. The high resistance between these two layers is a key characteristic of this design.
When a user touches the screen, the two layers make contact at a specific point known as the touchpoint. This contact reduces the resistance between...

Tactile and Chemical Senses

Tactile and Chemical Senses

Tactile senses encompass touch, temperature, and pain, each mediated by specific receptors. Touch receptors detect mechanical energy or pressure against the skin. Sensory fibers from these receptors enter the spinal cord and relay information to the brain stem. Here, most fibers cross over to the opposite side of the brain. The touch information then moves to the thalamus, which projects a map of the body's surface onto the somatosensory areas of the parietal lobes in the cerebral cortex. This...

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Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Rod-based Fabrication of Customizable Soft Robotic Pneumatic Gripper Devices for Delicate Tissue Manipulation

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Soft touchless sensors and touchless sensing for soft robots.

Chapa Sirithunge¹, Huijiang Wang¹, Fumiya Iida¹

¹Bio-Inspired Robotics Lab, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Frontiers in Robotics and AI

|February 5, 2024

Summary

Soft robots utilize soft touchless sensors to mimic human senses, enhancing mobility and safety. This approach enables non-invasive interaction and gripping, paving the way for advanced, dexterous soft robotic systems.

Keywords:

noncontact sensors soft robots soft sensors stretchable electronics touchless sensing

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Area of Science:

Robotics and Artificial Intelligence
Biomimetic Engineering
Sensor Technology

Background:

Soft robots offer unique advantages in bio-inspired applications due to their mechanical compliance.
Integrating soft sensors is crucial for maintaining flexibility and enhancing performance during soft robot deployment.
Existing soft sensors face challenges in non-invasive sensing and interaction.

Purpose of the Study:

To explore the integration of touchless sensing technologies with soft robotics.
To review advancements in soft robots emulating human sensory systems.
To outline a development roadmap for deployable soft robots with enhanced dexterity.

Main Methods:

Review of current literature on soft robotics and touchless sensing.
Analysis of biomimetic strategies for sensor emulation.
Identification of key challenges and opportunities in the field.

Main Results:

Soft touchless sensors enable non-invasive detection and manipulation, overcoming limitations of physical contact.
Emulating human senses in soft robots leads to improved mobility, energy efficiency, and spatial adaptability.
Significant progress has been made in developing soft robots with advanced sensory capabilities.

Conclusions:

The convergence of soft robotics and touchless sensing is a rapidly growing area.
Soft touchless sensors offer safe and intuitive interactions for robots.
Further development is needed to achieve human-level dexterity in deployable soft robots.