Robots that feel pain? New E-skin mimics human reflexes, pushing empathetic humanoids closer

Key Highlights

• Unlike conventional robotic skins that simply measure pressure, this new system translates physical contact into electrical signals that resemble neural pulses.
• These signals vary depending on how hard the surface is pressed, enabling the robot to tell the difference between a light touch and a harmful impact.
• The electronic skin is built from four functional layers, each playing a role similar to biological nerves.
• When the robot experiences gentle contact, the signals are sent to a central processor, where the information can be analysed and used for tasks such as object handling or human interaction.
• However, when the pressure crosses a predefined pain threshold, the system behaves very differently.