The future of humanoid robots sensing change

Skin: The key to human perception of the outside world

As an advanced bionic technology, electronic skin imitates the ductility, self-healing ability, high toughness and tactile perception of human skin. This device not only has the characteristics of human skin, but also adds additional functions, making it an efficient flexible tactile system. Through its sensing unit, electronic skin can detect changes in the external environment and play an important role in fields such as health monitoring, human-computer interaction and machine perception. In particular, the role of electronic skin is indispensable in the design and application of humanoid robots, which enables robots to interact with the outside world more delicately and naturally.

Flexible tactile sensors: huge market potential

Flexible tactile sensors are the core of electronic skin technology. They have flexibility and adaptability that traditional sensors do not have. This type of sensor can adapt to carriers of various shapes and more effectively measure the force on the surface of an object and perceive the properties of the object. According to data from Zhiyan Consulting, the global flexible sensor market size reached US$1.931 billion in 2022, and the annual compound growth rate (CAGR) is expected to reach 15.6% between 2022 and 2029. This growth is mainly due to demand in the medical and robotics fields. In China, the demand for flexible sensors in 2022 will be 49.231 million, the annual output will be 16.34 million, and the localization rate will also gradually increase to 32.50%.

Opmus: A breakthrough in fingertip tactile technology

Tesla's Optimus robot has made significant progress in fingertip tactile technology. In December 2023, Tesla released a demonstration of the Optimus Gen2, showing the robot's ability to hold an egg, with its hand's degrees of freedom increased to 11 and equipped with advanced tactile sensors. By January 2024, Tesla further demonstrated the Optimus robot's ability to fold T-shirts continuously, with a significantly improved level of refined fingertip manipulation. According to GGII's forecast, by 2030, the global humanoid robot market is expected to exceed $20 billion, and the Chinese market will reach $5 billion. This development of humanoid robots has brought new market opportunities for electronic skin technology, indicating that multi-dimensional tactile sensing systems will become the "second sense" of humanoid robots.

Domestic tactile sensor manufacturers

As a new type of bionic flexible tactile sensing system, electronic skin plays a vital role in the perception process of humanoid robots. Although some domestic companies have begun to lay out the production of flexible tactile sensors, most are still in the early stages, and multifunctional flexible tactile is still a bottleneck for domestic technological development. With the growing demand for humanoid robots, it is expected to promote the large-scale application of electronic skin and accelerate domestic technological progress. Therefore, investors are advised to pay attention to domestic tactile sensor manufacturers with higher technical levels, such as Audiwei and other companies.

Although electronic skin technology has great prospects, there are also some potential risks. The development of humanoid robots may not meet expectations, the rise in the price of flexible materials may increase costs, and the intensification of market competition may affect the profitability of the entire industry chain.