posted on 2024-03-20, 13:05authored byZisong Zhou, Yin Zhang, Jialuo Bai, Wang Zhang, Haolun Wang, Wei Pu
The evolution of bionic machines
into intelligent robots to adapt
to real scenarios is inseparable from positioning sensors. However,
traditional positioning methods such as camera arrays, ultrasound,
or GPS are limited in narrow concealed spaces, harsh temperatures,
or dynamic light fields, which hinder the practical application of
special robots. Here, we report a flexible sensor inspired by Gnathonemus petersii that enables robots to achieve
contactless and high-precision spatial localization independent of
the unstructured features of the environment. Sensors are obtained
from low-cost materials (carbon nanotubes and polyimides) and simple
structures (fibers) and preparation processes (spin-coating). Experiments
and simulations confirmed the high resolution (<1 mm) of the sensor
over a large distance detection range (>150 mm) and high bandwidth
(0–520 MPa) of contact force. Moreover, the sensing capability
is still feasible when the sensor is bent to various curvatures and
not affected under harsh conditions such as ultralow temperatures
(below −78 °C), ultrahigh temperatures (over 250 °C),
darkness, or brightness. We demonstrate the practical potential of
the proposed sensors for a biomimetic hyper-redundant continuum robot
to locate and avoid collisions in unstructured environments.