Hairy e-skin to allow robotic limbs to ‘feel’

Scientists are developing robots with hairy electronic skin that can “feel” its surroundings, an advance that may give people with prosthetic limbs a better sense of touch.

“We are interested in integrating the sensor into robotic arms for people with disabilities to give them the capability to feel a complex environment and handle things more easily,” said Lifeng Hao, a researcher at the Harbin Institute of Technology in China.

Human skin relies on hair for its sense of touch. To mimic this, researchers built artificial hairs using magnetic cobalt-based microwires.