Chemical Sensing at the Robot Fingertips: Towards Automated Taste Discrimination in Food Samples

The development of robotic sensors that mimic the human sensing capabilities is critical for the interaction and cognitive abilities of modern robots. Though robotic skin with embedded pressure or temperature sensors have received recent attention, robotic chemical sensors have long been unnoticed due the challenges associated in realizing chemical sensing modalities on robotic platforms. For realizing such chemically-sensitive robotic skin, we exploit here the recent advances in wearable chemical sensor technology and flexible electronics, and describe chemical sensing robotic fingers for rapid screening of food flavors and additives. The stretchable taste-sensing finger electrochemical devices are printed on the robotic glove, which simulates the soft skin, and are integrated with a wireless electronic board for real-time data transmission. The printed middle, index and ring robotic fingers allow accurate discrimination between sweetness, sourness and spiciness, via direct electrochemical detection of g...