Robots That Feel Pain? New Gelatin-Based Skin Allows For Precise Detection of Touch, Cuts, and Heat Almost Like Humans

Written by Romário Pereira de Carvalho

Published on 07/07/2025 at 18:33

Divulgação/University of Cambridge

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Artificial Skin With Conductive Gel Detects Touches, Cuts, and Heat in Robots — All With a Single Sensor and Integrated Artificial Intelligence

Imagine a robot that feels touch like a human. Researchers from the universities of Cambridge and UCL have taken an important step in that direction. On June 11, they announced in the journal Science Robotics a new robotic skin made with conductive gel. This innovation allows machines to feel everything from a light touch of a finger to the cut of a scalpel.

The main difference compared to previous solutions is simplicity. Instead of using separate sensors for heat, pressure, or pain, the new skin integrates everything into a single material. The technology mimics human skin: the entire surface acts as a sensor.

This effect is made possible by over 860,000 conductive microchannels spread throughout the structure. As a result, the robot can detect different stimuli with just one type of sensor. This includes light touches, deep cuts, and temperature changes.

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The base of the material is a hydrogel made from gelatin. It is elastic, conductive, and can be molded into complex shapes.

The scientists created a robotic hand and placed 32 electrodes on the wrist. With this, they managed to collect over 1.7 million data points at the same time across the artificial hand.

To teach the system to recognize stimuli, machine learning was used. The tests included intense heat, touches, and cuts with a scalpel.

This data was used to train the artificial intelligence models. Thus, the robotic skin can understand more accurately the type of contact it is receiving.

According to the researchers, the technology has not yet reached the sensitivity level of human skin. Nevertheless, they claim this is the most advanced solution ever created to date.

The new skin has potential for use in prosthetics, robots, and even in automotive applications. Still in the development phase, the technology already shows how the future of robotics can be more sensitive and realistic.

With information from Canal Tech.

Robots That Feel Pain? New Gelatin-Based Skin Allows For Precise Detection of Touch, Cuts, and Heat Almost Like Humans

Artificial Skin With Conductive Gel Detects Touches, Cuts, and Heat in Robots — All With a Single Sensor and Integrated Artificial Intelligence

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