Typically, robot hands lack dexterity because artificial grippers do not have the fine tactile sense of the human fingertip, which is used to guide our hands as we pick up and handle objects.
“Our work helps uncover how the complex internal structure of human skin creates our human sense of touch. This is an exciting development in the field of soft robotics - being able to 3D-print tactile skin could create robots that are more dexterous or significantly improve the performance of prosthetic hands by giving them an in-built sense of touch,” said Professor Lepora, a researcher from the University of Bristol.
The sense of touch in the artificial fingertip was created using a 3D-printed mesh of pin-like papillae on the underside of the skin, which mimics similar structures found between the layers of skin on a human finger. The papillae are made on advanced 3D printers that can mix soft and hard materials to create complicated structures like those found...