EAGER: Flexible and compressible e-Skin integrated with soft magnetic coil based ultra-thin actuator and touch sensor for robotics applications

自然皮肤特征的复制对于机器人的平稳操作至关重要。来自皮肤的触觉反馈可以允许机器人帮助老年人完成日常任务，并安全地与真实的世界对象（例如，易碎物品）。同样，手术工具上的皮肤可以让临床医生远程感受身体部位，从而实现数字健康的新研究方向。为了解决这一需求，近年来已经通过在柔性基板上集成不同类型的触摸传感器来开发了各种电子皮肤（e-Skin）。然而，到目前为止，e-Skin变体忽略了天然皮肤具有嵌入与肌肉紧密耦合的软组织中的受体/传感器的事实。单独使用触摸传感器，e-Skin不可能匹配自然皮肤的功能，因此非常需要受体（传感器）和肌肉（致动器）之间的无缝耦合。为了解决e-Skin研究中的这一长期存在的缺点，该项目将评估一种柔软可压缩的e-Skin的可行性，该e-Skin将具有触摸传感器与基于软电磁线圈的柔性超薄致动器集成。 在推进研究的同时，该项目将培养机器人、材料科学、电磁学、传感和先进制造等跨学科领域的研究生。外联工作将包括社区学院学生在夏季的参与，以丰富他们的教育和职业生涯，通过利用现有的研究经验为本科生（REU）网站通过路径程序。这项多学科研究的影响将在短期内在学术界、工业界和社会企业中显现出来。该项目将评估新型设备的可行性，该设备将具有触摸传感器，下面集成了软电磁线圈，具有传感和驱动功能。各种设计和形状的线圈，软传感器的材料和制造方法将被评估为大面积电子皮肤的潜在规模。所提出的装置将通过允许合适的电流流过软电磁线圈以获得所需强度和极性的磁场来表征受控或编程的厚度模式膨胀和压缩。 该项目计划通过识别一种结构来展示电子皮肤厚度可控变化的一个具有挑战性的方面，该结构允许相同的同时还具有触摸反馈传感器。 此外，该项目将展示多个设备无缝集成的可行性，在柔软和灵活的形状因素与可调刚度/柔软度和形状变形能力的电子皮肤。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Replication of Natural Skin characteristics is critically important for smooth operations of Robots. The touch sensory feedback from skin can allow robots to help elderly with daily tasks, and to safely interact with real world objects (e.g., grasping of fragile objects). Likewise, skin on surgical tools can allow clinicians to remotely feel the body parts to enable new research directions in digital health. To address the need various electronic skins (e-Skin) have been developed in recent years by integrating different types of touch sensors on flexible substrates. However, the e-Skin variants thus far have neglected the fact that natural skin has receptors/sensors embedded in soft tissues that are tightly coupled with muscles. With touch sensors alone, it is not possible for e-Skin to match the functionalities of natural skin and therefore seamless coupling between the receptors (sensors) and muscles (actuators) is much needed. To address this longstanding shortcoming in the e-Skin research, this project will evaluate the feasibility of a soft and compressible e-Skin that will have touch sensor integrated with soft electromagnetic coil-based flexible ultra-thin actuator. While advancing the research, this project will train graduate students in the interdisciplinary area of robotics, materials science, electromagnetics, sensing, and advanced manufacturing. Outreach efforts will include participation of community college students during summer to enrich their education and careers by leveraging the existing Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site through Pathways program. The impact of this multidisciplinary research will be seen in the near term in academia, industry, and social enterprises.The project will evaluate the feasibility of novel device that will have touch sensor integrated with soft electromagnetic coil underneath to have both sensing and actuation functions. Various designs and shapes of coils, materials for soft sensors, and the fabrications approach will be evaluated for potential scale up for large area e-Skin. The proposed devices will be characterized for controlled or programmed thickness mode expansion and compression by allowing suitable current to flow through the soft electromagnetic coil to obtain magnetic field of desired intensity and polarity. The project plans to demonstrate a challenging aspect of controlled variation of e-Skin thickness by identifying a structure that allows the same while also having sensors for touch feedback. Further the project will demonstrate the feasibility of seamless integration of multiple devices, in soft and flexible form factors with tunable stiffness/softness and shape morphing capability in e-skin. The proposed foundational work will lead to a new generation of smart and complex systems such as soft robots with human-like emotions and physical abilities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.