A Deep Learning-Enabled Skin-Inspired Pressure Sensor for Complicated Recognition Tasks with Ultralong Life

Abstract

Flexible full-textile pressure sensor is able to integrate with clothing directly, which has drawn extensive attention from scholars recently. But the realization of flexible full-textile pressure sensor with high sensitivity, wide detection range, and long working life remains challenge. Complex recognition tasks necessitate intricate sensor arrays that require extensive data processing and are susceptible to damage. The human skin is capable of interpreting tactile signals, such as sliding, by encoding pressure changes and performing complex perceptual tasks. Inspired by the skin, we have developed a simple dip-and-dry approach to fabricate a full-textile pressure sensor with signal transmission layers, protective layers, and sensing layers. The sensor achieves high sensitivity (2.16 kPa−1), ultrawide detection range (0 to 155.485 kPa), impressive mechanical stability of 1 million loading/unloading cycles without fatigue, and low material cost. The signal transmission layers that collect local signals enable real-world complicated task recognition through one single sensor. We developed an artificial Internet of Things system utilizing a single sensor, which successfully achieved high accuracy in 4 tasks, including handwriting digit recognition and human activity recognition. The results demonstrate that skin-inspired full-textile sensor paves a promising route toward the development of electronic textiles with important potential in real-world applications, including human–machine interaction and human activity detection.