Self-powered tactile hyperacuity with soft magnetoelectric skins

Abstract

The development of tactile e-skins aims to capture more tactile information with fewer sensing units, addressing the limitation of discernible directions imposed by the limited density of sensing units in traditional tactile e-skin. As a self-powered solution, flexible magnetoelectric systems are expected to fulfill this requirement effectively. The soft magnetoelectric skin (SMES) has been proposed here for multidirectional tactile sensing by imitating the structure and tactile hyperacuity of human skin. The SMES integrates a force–magnetic coupling layer with an electromagnetic induction layer, enabling it to detect vertical forces at 25 points and tangential forces in 12 directions using only 4 coils, showing its tactile hyperacuity. Both experimental and simulation results demonstrate its stable, self-powered multidirectional sensing mechanism. Additionally, a customized machine learning model achieves 96.01% accuracy in detecting 37 force directions, even under varying compression conditions. Combined with a real-time sensing system, its application potential for robotic tactile sensing and human–computer interfaces has been highlighted, showcasing its application versatility. In a word, the SMES realizes advanced multidirectional tactile sensing ability with a minimal number of sensing units and energy consumption.