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Related Concept Videos

Tactile and Chemical Senses01:27

Tactile and Chemical Senses

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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.
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Somatosensation01:33

Somatosensation

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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.
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Sensory Functions of the Skin01:16

Sensory Functions of the Skin

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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.
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Design Example: Resistive Touchscreen01:14

Design Example: Resistive Touchscreen

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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.
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Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System01:11

Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System

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The somatosensory system is the central and peripheral nervous system component that senses and processes touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and body position or proprioception. The process of sensation takes place at three levels:
The receptor level:
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Introduction to Special Senses01:26

Introduction to Special Senses

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Sensory receptors play an integral part in comprehending our external and internal environments. They receive diverse stimuli, converting them into the nervous system's electrochemical signals. This conversion occurs as the stimulus alters the sensory neuron's cell membrane potential, instigating the generation of an action potential. This action potential is subsequently transmitted to the central nervous system (CNS), which integrates with other sensory data or higher cognitive...
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 20, 2026

Measurement of Vibration Detection Threshold and Tactile Spatial Acuity in Human Subjects
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Measurement of Vibration Detection Threshold and Tactile Spatial Acuity in Human Subjects

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A Soft, Insect-Inspired, Distributed Tactile Sensor Enables Effective Touch Perception.

Parker McDonnell1, Lingsheng Meng2, Hari Krishna Hari Prasad1,2

  • 1Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA.

Soft Robotics
|March 18, 2026
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

This study introduces CITRAS, a cockroach-inspired tactile robotic antenna sensor for insect-scale robots. This biomimetic sensor enables precise environmental perception and navigation in confined spaces.

Keywords:
capacitive sensingcockroach-inspireddistributed tactile sensorphysical intelligencerobophysical antenna

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Area of Science:

  • Robotics
  • Biomimetics
  • Sensor Technology

Background:

  • Insects utilize flexible antennae with mechanosensors for navigation in cluttered environments.
  • Insect-scale robots require compact, low-power tactile sensing for close-range perception.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop a miniature, compliant tactile probe inspired by insect antennae for insect-scale robots.
  • To enable insect-scale robots with enhanced environmental sensing capabilities for navigation and interaction.

Main Methods:

  • Designed CITRAS (Cockroach-Inspired Tactile Robotic Antenna Sensor) with eight flexural hinge segments and capacitive sensors.
  • Characterized mechanical and sensing performance under quasi-static and dynamic conditions.
  • Validated tactile sensing in tasks including distance estimation, gap measurement, and texture discrimination.

Main Results:

  • CITRAS achieved sub-degree angular precision (<0.8° error) and accurate shape reconstruction.
  • Demonstrated reliable performance with minimal hysteresis in slow bending and rich dynamic responses in rapid interactions.
  • Successfully estimated body-to-wall distance (≤8% error) and object gap width (≤7% error), and discriminated surface textures.

Conclusions:

  • CITRAS provides a compact, bioinspired tactile sensing solution for insect-scale robots.
  • The low power consumption (32 mW) makes it suitable for onboard deployment.
  • Enables autonomous navigation and interaction in confined, unstructured, or delicate environments at the insect scale.