Research Progress and Application of Fabric-Based Tactile Sensors in Humanoid Robots

As critical components supporting humanoid robots to realize environmental interaction, delicate manipulation and intelligent feedback, tactile sensors have become a research hotspot in the fields of intelligent equipment and flexible electronics. Conventional rigid and thin-film sensing elements fail to conform to complex curved surfaces of robot bodies. Benefiting from high sensitivity, outstanding flexibility, favorable conformability and easy integration, fabric-based sensors can achieve seamless lamination with robot surfaces, which makes them optimal candidates for constructing robotic electronic skins and full-range tactile perception systems. Taking fibrous textile materials as the research object, this paper systematically summarizes core technologies of fabric-based tactile sensors, including operating mechanisms of four types of sensing devices, two categories of textile substrates, multi-dimensional force perception, array integration and curved-surface adaptability. Combined with cutting-edge domestic and overseas advances in recent years, the existing technical bottlenecks are concluded and corresponding optimization strategies are proposed. This work is expected to provide theoretical references and technical support for the engineering application of fabric-based tactile sensors in full-body tactile perception and electronic skins of humanoid robots.