Robotics has made significant strides in recent years, yet the ability for robots to touch and sense with the precision and sensitivity of human touch remains a complex challenge. In this episode, we delve into this challenge with Dr. Lepora, who is working at the forefront of developing biomimetic tactile sensors.

Dr. Lepora introduces us to the TacTip, a sensor that holds the potential to provide artificial analogs of tactile skin dynamics, afferent responses, and population encoding. This sensor, which is 3D-printed, is based on the physiology of the dermal-epidermal interface, complete with a mesh of biomimetic intermediate ridges and dermal papillae.

Dr. Lepora explains how they model slowly adapting SA-I activity and rapidly adapting RA-I activity using these sensors. We discuss how the biological plausibility of these artific ...