The soft unnoticeable multifunctional electronics enables two-way communication of sensing and virtual simulation for closed loop human–robot teaming”Cunjiang Yu
Researchers at the University of Houston, with colleagues from the University of Colorado and Southeast University in Nanjing, have developed a new multifunctional wearable device that is very thin and soft, and which can act as anelectronicrobotic skin that sends information back to the user. This breakthrough in wearable human–machine interface (HMI), which enables human interaction and teaming by collecting and storing information about the wearer, could find applications in areas such as electronics, manufacturing, medicine, military and even space travel. The soft electronics can be created easily through a sol-gel-on-polymer process.
Although existing devices are gaining in popularity, they are relatively bulky and uncomfortable to wear, which restricts motion, as well as having slow response times and a reduction in performance over time. Also, the more flexible versions do not offer simultaneous multiple functions such as sensing, switching, stimulation and data storage, and are not cost effective and tend to be difficult to fabricate. However, as described in the journal Science Advances [Sim et al. Sci. Adv (2019) DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aav9653], this new ultra-thin wearable device, which is only a few microns thick, is imperceptible to the wearer, allowing them to move around naturally.
HMI consists of hardware and software that allow user inputs to be translated as signals for machines that then provide the required result to the user, and are another example of the Internet of Things. Here, the technology could operate as a prosthetic skin for robotic devices that automatically collects information and relays it back to the wearer, with potential applications in healthcare such as shaking a robotic hand to assess physical condition, or in dangerous situations involving, for instance, chemical spills that need human decision-making based on physical inspection
The new device is soft and flexible, and has a metal oxide semiconductor on a polymer base, which brings manufacturing benefits and can be processed at temperatures of less than 300C. It can be worn on human skin to capture multiple physical data – as lead author Cunjiang Yu told Materials Today, “The soft unnoticeable multifunctional electronics enables two-way communication of sensing and virtual simulation for closed loop human–robot teaming”.
The group, who have been working on the interface of engineering science and technologies for human and robotics, will now look to explore wireless data transmission, high fidelity closed-loop control, and practical applications in a variety of fields and industries.
Wearable electronics that acts as a robotic skin