Robotic skin design lets robots feel pain and trigger reflex actions, enabling more empathetic interaction with humans

Scientists at the City University of Hong Kong have developed a neuromorphic robotic electronic skin that enables humanoid robots to feel pain and trigger protective reflexes. The four-layer e-skin mimics the human nervous system by generating spike pulses for gentle touch, but when pressure exceeds safe thresholds, it produces high voltage signals that bypass the processor and cause immediate recoil. This technology aims to make human-robot interactions safer while protecting robots from damage through near-instant defensive responses.