Nanowerk February 18, 2020
People rely on a highly tuned sense of touch to manipulate objects, but injuries to the skin and the simple act of wearing gloves can impair this ability. Researchers in China have developed a visually aided tactile enhancement system for precise motion control by combining ultrathin, highly sensitive, crack-based strain sensors and signal acquisition circuit with real-time display equipment. With the optimization of the thicknesses of the substrates and sensitive films of the strain sensors, the device has a detection limit as low as 0.01% and an ultrahigh gauge factor of 44 013 at a strain of 0.88%, which exceeds the performance of previous devices with crack-based strain sensors within minute strain range. The sensor makes it possible for the system to detect tiny deformations such as the slight brush of a feather, the fall of water droplets on fingers, and even the touch of invisible wires. The study demonstrates promising applications of integrated visually aided tactile enhancement systems in human-machine interactions and artificial intelligence…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
The visually aided tactile enhancement system, VATES, applied for precise motion control. (Image: Rongrong Bao)