The advancement in flexible electronics and neuromorphic electronics has opened up opportunities to construct artificial perception systems to emulate biological functions which are of great importance for intelligent robotics and human-machine interactions. However, artificial systems that can mimic the somatosensory feedback functions have not been demonstrated yet despite the great achievement in this area. In this work, inspired by human somatosensory feedback pathways, an artificial somatosensory system with both perception and feedback functions was designed and constructed by integrating the flexible tactile sensors, synaptic transistor, artificial muscle, and the coupling circuit. Also, benefiting from the synaptic characteristics of the designed artificial synapse, the system shows spatio-temporal information-processing ability, which can further enhance the efficiency of the system. This research outcome has a potential contribution to the development of sensor technology from signal sensing to perception and cognition, which can provide a special paradigm for the next generation of bionic tactile perception systems towards e-skin, neurorobotics, and advanced bio-robots.

柔性电子学和神经形态电子学的进步为构建人工感知系统以模拟生物功能提供了机会，这对智能机器人和人机交互具有重要意义。然而，尽管在这一领域取得了巨大成就，但尚未证明可以模拟体感反馈功能的人工系统。本工作受人体体感反馈通路的启发，通过集成柔性触觉传感器、突触晶体管、人工肌肉和耦合电路，设计并构建了一个兼具感知和反馈功能的人工体感系统。此外，受益于所设计的人工突触的突触特性，系统表现出时空信息处理能力，可以进一步提高系统的效率。该研究成果对传感器技术从信号传感到感知和认知的发展具有潜在的贡献，可为下一代仿生触觉感知系统向电子皮肤、神经机器人和先进的生物机器人提供特殊范式。