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12. Skin Electronics

RESEARCH PART

Skin electronics, which is also called e-skin, is an emerging trend in technology. It is a soft and stretchy electronic material that can be worn on the human body like a second skin. Now we go to more easy-to-wear and easy-to-use devices that can help us in our body movement and healthy control, use for communication, when we are ill, or in anything else. Now every global company is working and adding new and new technologies.

In skin electronics they usually use stretching and flexible materials with electronic sensors. Some e-skin materials also incorporate nanotechnology, such as carbon nanotubes, to improve their conductivity and sensitivity.

In the last years we see more and more skin electronics and wearables in sport, not only in professional sport but also in the usual person’s life who loves sport. And in any case a lot of people love to use this kind of electronics because of the interesting and unique design, like an accessory.

The most interesting and unbelievable part is the medical use of skin electronics. A sense of touch can be given to robots, which can help perform medical surgeries even without human contact. Or doctors can make operations from a distance with a skin-electronics mechanism — when the doctor moves the hand, the robot does the same, but **more correct, without human shaking or small movements, to be more precise in action.

E-Skin Systems in Human-to-Robot Control

A great example of this could be a project from 2022 called “Electronic Skin Lets Humans Feel What Robots Do — And Vice Versa.”

What they say: “An integration of soft materials, sensors and flexible electronics is bringing robotic ‘skin’ closer than ever to reality.”

Humans have millions of nerve endings that sense heat and touch. This helps us feel and investigate the world around us. For around 40 years, scientists and engineers have tried to create something similar to the human body with all its functionality and integrate it into robots, but it is still impossible. Now the work is going the other way — the way of e-skin.

When we attach sensors to the human body, they read our movements and reproduce them in robots. It is a really strong and promising development branch that can give us robots able to do very hard tasks, and in the future allow robots to learn from human movements — how something should be done and in which moment the most common or correct action is.

By doing one thing, we develop two important directions in this field: robot control at a distance, and robot training.

Touch and temperature sensors were the first to be developed for this kind of system. Wei Gao, a biomedical engineer at the California Institute of Technology, decided to try combining these sensors with ones that could detect chemicals.

Gao’s lab used an inkjet printer to layer a specialized ink made of nanomaterials—mixtures of microscopic bits of metals, carbon or other compounds—within a soft hydrogel base.

Main Types of Skin Electronics

We spoke about one tupe of e-skin but we have some uther points which are not less interesting they the previous one. Lets see and speeak about them.

Skin electronics main types:

  • Stretchable sensor skins
  • Conductive elastic materials
  • Electronic tattoo skins
  • Self-healing e-skin
  • Hybrid e-skin

Stretching sensor is a very ՐՐflexible oneՐՐ. You attach it to the skin and it stays there, moving together with your body. It can stretch, bend, twist, and still read body signals. The previous one is a great example of this type. These sensors are mostly used for health and sport-tracking purposes.

Conductive elastic materials are made from soft, skin-like materials with added conductive elements. They can easily transfer signals and do not change their flexibility. This type is mostly used when high sensitivity is needed or when e-skin is applied on soft robots.

Electronic tattoo skins look like temporary tattoos. They are the most comfortable ones to use — ultra thin and very light. They sit directly on the skin and can read muscle activity, skin temperature, breathing, or anything else. They feel so natural that people don’t even notice them, just like a real tattoo.

Self-healing e-skin is the only one that is “reproductive.” It can have small cuts or cracks, but the material sticks back together and continues working. This type is very common for long-term wear or for robots working in risky environments.

Hybrid e-skin is a mixed type. It can include micro-electronic parts together with conductive materials or other elements. It gives both high durability and very high accuracy. It can be used for reading tiny body movements or for robotic tasks.

INSPARETION