China’s ‘electric eel’ sensor allows robots to feel an object without touching it

The robot’s fluoropolymer-coated sensor acts like a battery to create an electric field that can detect metal, plastics, glass and wood

“We want the machine to sense an approaching target – distinguish its material and surface condition – before any physical contact,” said Zhang Weiqiang, a professor at Xidian University, in a video interview last week.

Their work was published last month in the peer-reviewed journal Advanced Materials.

“When an object draws near, the sensor picks up changes in the field and from those changes, it can infer the object’s electrical conductivity, dielectric properties and geometric shape,” Zhang said.