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Modelled on human skin: robots will soon be able to feel individual grains of sand
9.3.2026
Translation: machine translated
Robots often fail to interact sensitively with their environment. A ground-breaking artificial skin from Cambridge now uses microscopic pyramid structures to give machines an almost human-like dexterity.
Robotics is progressing in leaps and bounds. Most recently, robots showed off their skills in choreographed, fast martial arts dances in a show to mark the Chinese New Year. But when it comes to the sense of touch, robots are still mostly gross motorists. If they do not know how much force they can exert when gripping objects, they are not suitable for sensitive applications. In short: robots lack a human sense of touch.
A team of researchers from Cambridge has now developed an artificial skin that could change this in the future. According to the article published in the scientific journal «Nature Materials», the system can sense surprisingly small forces, such as the weight of a grain of sand. The surface of this artificial skin is formed from tiny pyramids. A robotic hand equipped with it can grip paper tubes without crushing them. In the «Supplementary Information section» under the study there are some short videos to download that show this.
Source: Cambridge University
In addition, the sensor distinguishes between vertical pressure and laterally directed forces. For example, a robot with this skin can sense in real time when an object starts to slide and can react accordingly.
The team sees its research as groundbreaking for the development of robots that will be used outside of controlled factory conditions. In hospitals and households, robots are confronted with unpredictable situations to which they can react much better with a fine sense of touch.
Tiny pyramids enable artificial sense of touch
Existing 3D tactile sensors use approaches such as electrical material resistance, magnetic fields, changes in air pressure or AI-supported object recognition using a camera to deduce the sensitivity of an object to pressure. However, these systems are bulky, complex to manufacture and are also unable to distinguish between normal and shear forces, as the head of the research project, Professor Tawfique Hasan, states in the press release.
His team wanted to change that. According to the study, the artificial skin developed, which serves as a sensor, is significantly more sensitive than comparable tactile sensors. It is a flexible composite material that combines several layers of graphene, deformable liquid metal microdroplets and nickel particles on a silicone matrix. This material is moulded into tiny pyramids with the tips pointing outwards. The pyramid base has a side length of 0.2 millimetres, which is roughly equivalent to two sheets of printer paper laid on top of each other.
The tips of the pyramids can recognise forces from 0.9 µN (micronewtons). That is very little: the weight of a grain of sand corresponds to two to 50 µN. With a sensitivity of 110 kPa-¹ (kPa = kilopascal), the system is around ten times more accurate than comparable flexible tactile sensors, according to the study.
Source: Cambridge University
Under each pyramid there are four electrodes that transmit the measured data to a processor. This calculates the acting force and its direction. The large number of pyramids next to each other allows conclusions to be drawn about the size of an object.
The system is to be further optimised
The sensor developed is intended to bring the use of robots in minimally invasive surgery and manufacturing processes in the micro range within reach. Operating theatre robots already exist. However, these are less autonomous robots than assistance systems that can finely execute the surgeon's coarser movements.
Although the results achieved already outperform other systems, it should be possible to improve it even further in the future. The research team assumes that the pyramids can be reduced to less than 50 micrometres (0.05 millimetres), which would come close to the touch sensitivity of human skin. Other sensors, such as those for measuring temperature and humidity, could also be integrated along the same lines.
The cost of producing this artificial skin is not mentioned by the researchers. The university has already applied for a patent.
Header image: Shutterstock/H_Ko
Feels just as comfortable in front of a gaming PC as she does in a hammock in the garden. Likes the Roman Empire, container ships and science fiction books. Focuses mostly on unearthing news stories about IT and smart products.
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