A highly sensitive, 3D-printed fingertip could help robots become more dexterous and improve the performance of prosthetic hands by giving them an in-built sense of touch. 

“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 Principal Investigator Professor Nathan Lepora. 

Read the full University of Bristol press release

Papers: 

‘Artificial SA-I, RA-I and RA-II/vibrotactile afferents for tactile sensing of texture’ by Pestell, N. & Lepora, N. in Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 

‘Artificial SA-I and RA-I afferents for tactile sensing of ridges and gratings’ by Pestell, N., Griffith, T. and Lepora, N. in Journal of the Royal Society Interface.