Our Vision
Empowering Robots with the Sense of Touch
MagTecSkin is dedicated to creating a novel tactile skin based on magnetic technology,
enabling robots to sense 3D contact forces on multiple points even when the skin is bent or stretched.
Backed by £1m funding by ARIA, our mission is to empower robots with advanced tactile sensing solutions
that will revolutionize the way robotic hands interact with their environment.
Advantages of Our Technology
Enhanced Robotic Interaction with the Environment
Our robotic skin will be able to sense 3D contact forces on multiple points also when it is bent or stretched.​
The skin will be able to completely cover any robotic end-effector, including dexterous hands and soft grippers, so that they could feel touch on any point of their surface, with no "blind" spots.​

Sensing
3D forces
on multiple
contact points
Enables robot hands to interact safely and effectively with the external environment, including handling delicate and deformable objects.
Stretchable
Can bend and stretch,
without losing tactile sensitivity.
No blind spots
Can cover any surface of a robot,
including the articulated parts.
Our Team
International and multidisciplinary
MagTecSkin is led by Dr Lorenzo Jamone, who is Associate Professor in Robotics & AI at University College London (UCL) and director of the CRISP research group, and it includes partners from different countries (UK, Portugal, Chile) who are top experts in the different technical areas required by the project: tactile robotics, soft materials, magnetics, simulations.
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Lorenzo Jamone (UCL)
Gabriele Giudici (UCL)​
Yue Li (UCL)​
Emiliano Bilotti (Imperial College London, UK)​
Susana Cardoso (INESC-MN, Portugal)​
Stefan Escaida (O'Higgins University, Chile)​
Tactile robotics
(University College London, UK)
We have more than 20 years experience in developing tactile sensors to improve robotic dexterity: MagTecSkin is the next step.
Soft materials
(Imperial College London, UK)
Novel soft and stretchable materials with embedded functional components will be created, to support the sensing capabilities of MagTecSkin.
Magnetics
(INESC-MN, Portugal)
Magnetic composites with enhanced mechanical properties and magnetic sensors with optimised sensitivity will be combined to achieve improved tactile sensing performances of MagTecSkin.
Simulations
(O'Higgins University, Chile)
Advanced computer simulations will be leveraged to optimise the design of the mechanical, magnetic and electronic parameters of MagTecSkin.