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Tactile perception in hydrogel-based robotic skins using data-driven electrical impedance tomography

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

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Authors

Thuruthel, TG 
Iida, F 

Abstract

Combining functional soft materials with electrical impedance tomography is a promising method for developing continuum sensorized soft robotic skins with high resolutions. However, reconstructing the tactile stimuli from surface electrode measurements is a challenging ill-posed modelling problem, with FEM and analytic models facing a reality gap. To counter this, we propose and demonstrate a model-free superposition method which uses small amounts of real-world data to develop deformation maps of a soft robotic skin made from a self-healing ionically conductive hydrogel, the properties of which are affected by temperature, humidity, and damage. We demonstrate how this method outperforms a traditional neural network for small datasets, obtaining an average resolution of 12.1 mm over a 170 mm circular skin. Additionally, we explore how this resolution varies over a series of 15,000 consecutive presses, during which damages are continuously propagated. Finally, we demonstrate applications for functional robotic skins: damage detection/localization, environmental monitoring, and multi-touch recognition - all using the same sensing material.

Description

Keywords

4605 Data Management and Data Science, 46 Information and Computing Sciences, 40 Engineering, 4016 Materials Engineering, Bioengineering

Journal Title

Materials Today Electronics

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2772-9494
2772-9494

Volume Title

Publisher

Elsevier BV
Sponsorship
European Commission Horizon 2020 (H2020) Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) (828818)
EPSRC (2434612)