Bioinspired Elephant Trunk Bristle Sensors for Environmental Mapping

The environmental-exploration robots already have a great capability to adapt to the different harsh environment. Through using some special material, such as low melting point alloy, the environment-exploration robot can regulate the local stiffness. However, the sensing capabilities of the environmental-exploration robots are not perfect enough; the robots can't reflect the environment visually. Herein, inspired by the elephant trunk whisker, a tactile sensor applied to the robots can achieve the robotic visual sensing capability. Inspirations from the elephant trunk's bristles and their associated follicle-sinus complexes (FSC): the sensor uses carbon fiber material to imitate the bristles, which makes the bristle have the stable mechanical support capable of withstanding large forces like the elephant trunk whiskers. To imitate the elephants FSC, the sensor uses the synergistic microcrack-bristle structure that can allow multiple circuits to connect inside the sensor. This structure ensures efficient transfer of tactile signals and enables rapid responses. The sensor uses the modular design to imitate the high-density distribution of elephant trunk bristles, which enables the sensor to detect subtle tactile stimuli, which is crucial for robots to perform precise manipulation in complex environments.