Artificial finger able to identify surface material with 90% accuracy

A team of researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has developed an artificial finger that was able to identify certain surface materials with 90% accuracy. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the group describes how they used triboelectric sensors to give their test finger an ability to gain a sense of touch. Prior research has led to the development of robotic fingers that have the ability to recognize certain attributes of certain surfaces, such as pressure or temperature--the team with this new effort, have taken such efforts further by adding the ability to identify a material that is being touched. The finger was created by applying small square sensors to the tip of a finger-shaped object. Each of the squares was made of a different kind of plastic polymer, each chosen because of their unique electrical properties.