Miniature soft sensors are crucial for the perception of soft robots. Although centimeter-scale sensors have been well developed, very few works addressed millimeter-scale, three-dimensional-shaped soft sensors capable of measuring multi-axis forces. In this work, we developed a millimeter-scale (overall size of 6 mm × 11 mm × 11 mm) soft sensor based on liquid metal printing technology and self-folding origami parallel mechanism. The origami design of the sensor enables the soft sensor to be manufactured within the plane and then fold into a three-dimensional shape. Furthermore, the parallel mechanism allows the sensor to rotate along two orthogonal axes. We showed that the soft sensor can be self-folded (took 17 s) using a shape-memory polymer and magnets. The results also showed that the sensor prototype can reach a deformation of up to 20 mm at the tip. The sensor can realize a measurement of external loads in six directions. We also showed that the soft sensor enables underwater sensing with a minimum sensitivity of 20 mm/s water flow. This work may provide a new manufacturing method and insight into future millimeter-scale soft sensors for bio-inspired robots.
The intelligence of the biological agents is enabled by their neural intelligence in their brains, in the meantime, their physical intelligence encoded in the bodies plays a nonnegligible role. The development of intelligent bio-inspired robots depends on an in-depth understanding of physical intelligence, particularly in biomechanics. Here, we briefly review the physical intelligence of biological organisms from three aspects: material, structure, and morphology. We envision that bio-inspired physical intelligence would boost the development of future intelligent lifelike machines.
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