Researchers at the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) in Korea have developed an electronic skin technology that can be manufactured on-site without the need for separate facilities. ETRI announced on the 24th that they have developed a technology that allows for the production of large-area in-situ electronic skin without a semiconductor cleanroom facility.
Electronic skin is a thin, flexible sensor that detects pressure and contact, similar to human skin, and is a crucial technology for implementing precise tactile senses in intelligent robots. Traditional flexible electronic sensors required semiconductor manufacturing processes such as photomask processing, vacuum deposition, and etching, necessitating expensive cleanroom equipment, making the production process complex and costly.
Moreover, because the process steps were numerous and separate, it required repeated transfers of the substrate, leading to operational complexities and high costs. This complexity became even more pronounced when applying the technology to large areas or curved surfaces, especially for humanoid robots with surfaces similar to human form, where ensuring both process stability and reliability was challenging.
To address these limitations, the researchers devised a maskless in-situ processing technology using only UV lasers and 3D printers, which allows for the production of sensors without separate photomask processing. This approach enables the direct fabrication of sensors at the required locations without the need for additional photomasks.
Consequently, they successfully implemented a large-area capacitive flexible tactile sensor array based on microporous dielectrics with high reproducibility in a short time and significantly streamlined the production process, increasing efficiency. The dependency on costly cleanroom facilities was greatly reduced, expanding the potential for custom applications and production scalability.
This technology has garnered attention for reducing the burdens of the manufacturing process while creating an environment applicable to intelligent robot tactile systems, human-machine interfaces (HMI), wearable devices, and various interactive systems. Sensors can be produced on-site in a continuous process without separate segmentation or transfer, allowing for greater design flexibility even on complex shapes with curves or contours. Additionally, it supports cost reduction and rapid prototyping, enabling quick adaptability to various applications like robotics, IoT devices, and healthcare sectors.
ETRI has demonstrated the applicability from sensor components to system level, showcasing its potential use in real-world robot and human-machine interface environments. This achievement lays the groundwork for the practical application of next-generation intelligent robot tactile systems and interactive electronic skin technology.
The results of this research have been published in the leading scientific journal in the field of flexible electronics, Nature’s sister journal, npj Flexible Electronics, acknowledging the technological excellence of the work.
Reporter Seonghun Choi, [email protected]