Artificial Skin Can Detect Nearby Objects Without Touching Them

A research team at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU) created an artificial skin that can sense the presence of nearby objects without coming into physical contact with them. The skin features two nickel-coated conductive fabric layers surrounding a sponge bathed in ionic liquid, which functions as an electrical conduit. The electrode layers form a capacitor that quantifies changes in distance between them in order to detect physical contacts with objects. The skin relies on machine learning techniques to identify how an object it detects compares with data on known materials. In tests, the skin successfully classified a series of objects brought near it as being either polymer, metal, or skin. [ Click on the image to read the full article ]