Bioinspired soft electroreceptors for artificial precontact somatosensation.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 35622923.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.abo5201 and PMC identifier 9140963.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Artificial haptic sensors form the basis of touch-based human-interfaced applications. However, they are unable to respond to remote events before physical contact. Some elasmobranch fishes, such as seawater sharks, use electroreception somatosensory system for remote environmental perception. Inspired by this ability, we design a soft artificial electroreceptor for sensing approaching targets. The electroreceptor, enabled by an elastomeric electret, is capable of encoding environmental precontact information into a series of voltage pulses functioning as unique precontact human interfaces. Electroceptor applications are demonstrated in a prewarning system, robotic control, game operation, and three-dimensional object recognition. These capabilities in perceiving proximal precontact events can lenrich the functionalities and applications of human-interfaced electronics.