CCTV News: In order to allow robots to enter factories and families faster and complete various complex actions close to humans, tactile perception is essential. Recently, many humanoid robots have been put on "electronic skins" to accelerate the exploration of the real world.

Use different force to test each finger of the robot, and it can be seen that the feedback force of the little finger will be stronger. Behind this sensitive movement is because the dense flexible sensors are integrated in this place on its fingertips. With such a small area, up to hundreds of flexible sensors can be integrated.

This is amplified version of a sensor. It is very light and very thin, with a thickness of only about 0.2 mm, which is similar to the thickness of the surface layer of our human skin, and it is very soft and can be bent at will. If such a flexible sensor and a membrane cloth processed through a special process can be combined, it can be made into an "electronic skin".

Skin is an important organ for humans to perceive the external environment, while "electronic skin" opens the "door" for humanoid robots to perceive the real world. How much force should I use to pinch a piece of tofu and pick up an egg? At what angle should you pour a glass of water or help the patient up? With "electronic skin", robots can complete these actions safely, accurately and dexterously.

Wang Xin, the head of a certain enterprise, introduced that after being equipped with the "electronic skin", the humanoid robot can capture an object and restore the body shape of the object to the greatest extent, turning it into an electrical signal that a robot can understand to process information, and then the robot can judge how much force it uses, or what control method it uses to capture.

After installing the "electronic skin" and simulated silicone surface, the touch and sensitivity of the robot's fingers are closer to humans. In addition, electronic skin can also be used in different locations of the robot's body to sense temperature and distance. Chen Shulung, chief scientist of a certain company, introduced that the demand for "electronic skin" is in an exponential growth stage. It might have been a relatively niche product a few years ago. Now there is a lot of demand. It is expected that its annual growth rate will increase by more than 50% in the past five years. "Electronic skin" orders have grown explosively, enterprises have expanded production, prices have declined

From the urgent need for niche products to robots, the application of "electronic skin" has grown rapidly, and production and R&D are also accelerating. It is understood that at present, my country has relatively advantages in the field of "electronic skin" and its production capacity is expected to be further breakthroughs.

In a precision coating workshop in Jiaxing, Zhejiang, a roll of film cloth used for "electronic skin" is quickly sprayed and then taken off the line. Workshop director Pu Yongjiang introduced that since 2025, the number of orders they received has increased sharply, and the workshop has been full of staff and has 24-hour shifts.

While production capacity increases, the cost of "electronic skin" also decreases. The reporter learned from this company in Songshan Lake, Dongguan that since 2025, with the decline in prices, many customers have begun to try to install "electronic skins" on robots' hands and even their joints, and their shipments have increased by 10 times.

At present, the rapid development of humanoid robots in my country has driven the accelerated update of the R&D and design solutions of "electronic skins", and even reached the speed of iterations per week. In addition to the field of robots, electronic skins will also play greater value in medical, industrial and other fields in the future.