Rubbery camouflage skin exhibits smart and stretchy behaviors

EureakAlert  June 13, 2022
Cephalopod (octopuses, squids, and cuttlefish) skin is a soft organ that can endure complex deformations, such as expanding, contracting, bending, and twisting, capable of cognitive sensing and responding that enable the skin to sense light, react and camouflage its wearer. While artificial skins with either these physical or these cognitive capabilities have existed, none has simultaneously exhibited both qualities. An international team of researchers (USA – Pennsylvania State University, University of Houston, South Korea, China) has developed artificial neuromorphic cognitive skins based on arrayed, biaxially stretchable synaptic transistors constructed entirely out of elastomeric materials. Through investigation of the synaptic characteristics under various levels of biaxial mechanical strain sets the operational foundation for stretchy distributed synapse arrays and neuromorphic cognitive skin devices. They achieved neuromorphic cognitive functions, including image memorization, long-term memorization, fault tolerance, programming, and erasing functions under 30% biaxial mechanical strain. The imaging sensory skin devices showed stable neuromorphic pattern reinforcement performance under both biaxial and nonuniform local deformation…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE