Biomimetic Stretchable Sensor Resembling Shar-Pei Crumples with 2D Materials towards Collaborative Robotic Minimally Invasive Procedures

For the purpose of collision avoidance, medical robots can utilize tactile sensors with 2D materials including reduced graphene oxide rGO and MXene electrodes that are stretchable like the skin of humans. When the electrode surface is visualized using scanning electrode microscope (SEM), the surface morphologies have wrinkles like those found on Shar Pei dog faces. This study aims to examine the biomimetic similarity between the 2D crumples in SEM images of the electrode surface and in the images of Shar-Pei dog faces. The similarity in 2D crumples was assessed by computing the angles made by the crumples and analyzing its distribution. This study demonstrates that there is a biomimetic similarity between the dog face and the SEM images of the rGO and MXene electrodes. This implies similar stretchable functionalities and protective principles out of the crumple geometry of the sensors and Shar-Pei skins.