Development of artificial skin having human skin-like texture (realization and evaluation of human skin-like texture by emulating surface shape pattern and elastic structure)

Artificial skin having human skin-like texture is necessary for the development of tactile evaluation systems and for robots that have physical contact with humans. This paper describes a novel type of artificial skin having human skin-like texture and a model of human texture perception. The artificial skin is designed by emulating the surface shape pattern and elastic structure of the human skin. Appropriate wettability and friction property of the artificial skin is achieved by designing the surface shape. Through sensory evaluation, we confirm the artificial skin has human skin-like texture due to its surface shape pattern and elastic structure. In addition, we build a model of skin-like texture perception through multivariate analysis between physical parameters and tactile factor scores. This model can indicate what factor is important for human skin-like texture. From the results, artificial skin having optional skin-like texture can be developed.