Electronic Skin and Its Application in Soft Biomimetic Robots

Throughout the development of sensor technology and various flexible materials in recent years, electronic skin has been developed in various ways. The development form of electronic skin is not limited to the perception of the object’s surface by the flexible sensors, but also the bionic electronic skin with some skin characteristics, such as the skin’s flexibility or elasticity. This paper is mainly divided into two parts. The paper introduces the superior characteristics of biological skin and briefly describes the significance and current difficulties of developing electronic skin in the first part. This leads to the discussion of the significance of bionics to the ideal electronic skin. In the second part, this paper reviews the latest research progress of electronic skin in five different directions in software bionic robots for decades. Five typical research and design methods are analyzed and summarized by comparing the engineering deficiencies of these five kinds of electronic skin with the ideal bionic electronic skin. Then, based on evaluating the above five kinds of electronic skin, the paper assumes future electronic skin research direction, to serve as a useful resource for the electronic skin industry’s future growth and to encourage research and expansion of allied businesses.