In cooperation with Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Center for Intelligent Medical Equipment and Devices (iMED) of Suzhou Institute for Advanced Research has explored the mechanism of processing electronic devices on curved surfaces and proposed a new process for preparing multi-layer complex circuits on 3D printing structural parts. By addressing conformal full coverage of large sensing arrays in tactile fingertips, it serves as a new method for more comprehensive tactile intelligence in the fields of intelligent prostheses and medical robots. The results were published as the cover article in Advanced Science, an internationally renowned research journal, under the title "Structural Electronic Skin for Conformal Tactile Sensing" with iMED researcher Chang Yu and Professor Pan Tingrui as the corresponding authors, and Li Sen as the first author.

This study developed a method to fabricate double-layer conductive circuits in 3D printed structural parts and to complete conformal processing of arrayed electrodes on the surface of structural parts, thus making it possible to process arrayed electronic devices with complex functions on curved surfaces. Then a smart fingertip with a large tactile array, which consists of 46 tactile sensing units that work simultaneously and completely cover the complex surface of the fingertip, enabled omni-directional tactile perception at the fingertip. In addition, the smart fingertip was proved to be feasibly applied in specific scenarios like digital palpation, robot injection, precise force control and tactile exploration of intelligent prosthetics, solving the key problems of tactile surface perception in the field of intelligent medical robots.

Left: Conceptual view of the structured electronic skin; right: Sample photo and potential application in intelligent robot palpation.

The research was included in the National Program for Key Science & Technology Projects, the overseas cooperation projects of National Natural Science Foundation of China, and USTC Start-up Funds for Introduced Talents.

Paper link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/advs.202304106