以電鰻皮膚為啟發，利用材料表面電荷轉移與位移電流的機制，開發一種可在各種極端形變狀態下，將各種人體運動的動能轉換成可用電力的能源元件，稱為「類電鰻皮膚奈米發電機」。該元件可撓、可折、可扭、全軸向拉伸性質超過300%，更接近理想的完全柔性的電力元件；該元件作為電力來源，極度安全、可隨意變形，即使元件受到嚴重的剪力破壞，仍可保持其發電功能，安全地將人體運動能轉換成可用電力。此研究裡，我們證明了類電鰻皮膚奈米發電機可藉由轉換人體運動能量，連續不斷驅動穿戴電子設備，並利用此類電鰻奈米發電機，發明了一種可不需要電池驅動的柔性觸覺感應電子皮膚。此研究未來將可推進柔性電子、柔性人機介面、電子皮膚、智慧義肢的發展。

Mimicking human skins and molluscan, the self-powered and super-soft active robotic skin and actively perceivable and responsive soft robots are demonstrated for the first time. The robotic skins with perfect flexibility and stretchability can actively sense external stimuli (including proximity, touching, pressure, and dampness and temperature of contact materials) via self-generating electricity. The driving energy comes from a natural triboelectrification effect which involves the cooperation of contact electrification and electrostatic induction. The perfect integration of the robotic skins and soft actuators enables soft robots to perform various actively perceiving and interactive tasks. For a conscious gripper, it can actively be aware of different actions in moving an object including approaching, grabbing, lifting, lowering, and even the accident of dropping off the objects. A perceivable robot-finger can detect if a baby wet the pants. A conscious robotic crawler can even sense very subtle human physiological signals, showing their potential in biomedical uses and palpation. Moreover, it can perceive its internal muscle motions during undulating gaits. Such robots with large-area tribo-skins have been demonstrated for multiplexing sensing uses. Moreover, the actively responding signals can directly drive optoelectronic components for intuitive communication and be further processed for more sophisticated uses such as answering with sound, light, phrases, and so on. It is believed the first achievements in the actively perceiving and responsive soft robots can push the boundaries of artificial intelligences, intelligent robotics, as well as their vast related applications.

自驅動感測、電子皮膚、軟性機器人

Self-powered Sensors, Electronic Skins, Soft Robots