A Multifunctional Flexible Tactile Sensor for Simultaneous Pressure, Temperature, and Material Recognition

Abstract Inspired by the multimodal sensing capabilities of the human tactile system, this study proposes a multifunctional flexible tactile sensor capable of simultaneously detecting pressure, temperature, and material type. The pressure sensing module is based on a parallel‐plate capacitor structure and incorporates an electrode array to detect and compensate for in‐plane tensile strain, thereby improving the accuracy and robustness of normal pressure measurements. A serpentine‐patterned thermistor is embedded within the sensor to achieve real‐time temperature monitoring and compensation. Additionally, a single‐electrode triboelectric nanogenerator enables material recognition by leveraging differences in triboelectric polarity and contact‐induced charge transfer across materials. The integration of these three sensing modalities allows for synergistic signal correction and enhancement. A complete tactile sensing system is developed by integrating the sensor with a robotic arm, a PyQt‐based data acquisition and control interface, and a ResNet18‐1D convolutional neural network for material classification. Experimental results demonstrate accurate real‐time pressure and temperature monitoring, as well as reliable material identification with a classification accuracy of up to 100%. The proposed multifunctional tactile sensor system offers a compact and high‐performance solution for applications in robotics, prosthetics, and intelligent human–machine interfaces.