eDermis
®
eDermis® electronic skin (e-skin) technology uses quantum tunnelling sensing principles to enable piezoresistive touch, force, and position measurements in a compliant and flexible package as thin as 2 human hairs. eDermis® uses only 4 wires and is highly customisable in size, shape, and number of tactile sensing regions.
eDermis Core Features:
®
Customise & Embed
A variety of substrate materials, force ranges, shapes, and form factors are available using our flexible electronics and nano-/micro-composite and MEMS manufacturing technologies to ensure perfect integration into your project.
Pressure Location and Magnitude with TrueResistance™
X and Y outputs for location. Z output corresponds to the resistance (in Ω) due the pressure applied. TrueResistance™ data means you can do more, but a simpler voltage-equivalent readout is also optional. Multiple resolution options available with our custom DAQ.
Flexible and Conformable
eDermis® has been tested to output the repeatable normal pressure and position signal down to a bending radius of 14 mm on hard and soft curved surfaces. It can be wrinkled, bent, and wrapped around nearly any hard or soft surface.
Dynamic Force and Pressure Range
Massive thanks to use of quantum tunnelling technology. Sensors have been tested for both force and pressure. Forces of 0.01- 30N are a nominal range, but this is tuneable. Pressure is a more important metric and the sensor has been tested 500Pa – 160kPa, but tuneable.
Thin yet Robust
As thin as 2 human hairs at 0.2 mm, with extremely high robustness. Durable to more than 1 million cycles of compression or flexing with a reliable output.
Intelligent
Sensor achieves high data density with only 4 wires, ensuring that DoF of robots are maintained without rats nests of wires. Optimised software and real-time visualiser included. Custom deep learning and sensor data processing applications possible on request.
Shear & Triaxial e-skin
Our triaxial e-skin is our truly unique signature sensor technology. It is the culmination of 7+ years of experience determining the best design, materials and parameters for the ultimate e-skin which sits in its own class. It goes beyond the capabilities of eDermis® as well as that of human skin, by sensing normal and shear forces for each tactile pixel (tactel) over a massive dynamic range and millions of cycles.
The innovation lies in its form factor, scalability, mass-manufacturability, and ability to integrate into vast compliant arrays over any desired surface. The technology can be used as individual sensors or a 'skin' where multiple tactels are integrated into an array for high resolution over any surface. The s-skin can withstand harsh and corrosive environments too.
For those wanting to build their own applications, the output of our custom readout electronics is a simple Cartesian XYZ vector that expresses both magnitude and 3D direction of the force applied. The triaxial e-skin can then be used to accurately acquire data from contact surfaces that are soft or hard, flat or round. It can often replace bulky and rigid Force Torque (F/T) sensors which are used to estimate these contact forces.
Added Triaxial Core Features:
3D Force Magnitude and Direction
Outputs a 3D Cartesian force vector for each tactel representing both shear and normal forces. Can be integrated into dense matrix arrays.
Deep Learning and Analytics
Object shape classification through touch, texture detection, slip detection, and ground reaction forces can be accomplished using an optional software add-on.
Piezoresistive and Capacitive
Quantum tunnelling and capacitive capabilities integrated into the same sensor to deliver a massive dynamic range as well as a linear output option. An additional proximity sensing feature can be enabled. Only 5 wires required for individual sensors.