An Artificial Intelligence‐Motivated Skin‐Like Optical Fiber Tactile Sensor

Abstract

Soft and stretchable tactile sensors have received extensive attention for their potential applications in wearables, human–robot interaction, and intelligent robots. Herein, inspired by the functions of skin somatosensory signal generation and processing, an artificial intelligence‐motivated skin‐like optical fiber tactile (SOFT) sensor is proposed. It features multifunctional touch interaction capabilities including tactile amplitude and position and tensile strain. Four fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) are embedded in a skin‐like three‐layer laminate structure of the SOFT sensor, forming a flexible tactile sensing array with a stretchability larger than 20%. Fusing the two‐level cascaded neural network, the position and magnitude of the contact force can be distinguished simultaneously. The recognition accuracy for contact position is up to 92.41% and the error is less than 4.2% within the force range of 0–3.5 N. Several SOFT sensor‐based interactive applications including pressure password interface and music playback are achieved by combining the artificial intelligence spatiotemporal dynamic logic analysis. Furthermore, the sensor is also capable of complex scenes involving tension and tactile sensing, such as dexterous hand perception and human–robot interaction control. This work provides novel insights into artificial intelligence‐based integrated skin that shows broad promise in intelligent prosthetics and bionic robotic.

A Review of Wearable Optical Fiber Sensors for Rehabilitation Monitoring

“…Li et al introduced a skin-like optical fiber tactile sensor (SOFT), inspired by artificial intelligence, designed to emulate the tactile signal generation and processing functions of human skin [ 101 ]. It possesses multifunctional tactile interaction capabilities, including the detection of tactile amplitude, position, and tensile strain.…”

AI in Sensor Research: A Reality Check and the Underestimated Potential of ChatGPT

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Recent Advances in Tactile Sensory Systems: Mechanisms, Fabrication, and Applications

“…Therefore, humans tend to remember frequent mechanical stimuli and establish sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory, as well as human reflex responses to these stimuli. Neural plasticity, i.e., the evolutive ability of the brain throughout an individual’s lifetime, plays a key role in information processing [ 15 , 16 , 17 ]. Inspired by the neural system and its plasticity, researchers have developed neuromorphic electronic devices, including artificial synapses and artificial neurons [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ], in which memristors can act as the building blocks of compute-in-memory for processing sensory information, to break through von Neumann architecture, and be given access to obtain a high operation speed and a low power consumption [ 6 , 23 , 24 , 25 ].…”