MIT researchers have developed a “sensorized” skin, made with kirigami-inspired sensors, that gives soft robots greater awareness of the motion and position of their bodies. The newly developed soft sensors are conductive silicone sheets cut into kirigami patterns and have “piezoresistive” properties i.e they can change in electrical resistance when stretched. When the sensor distorted due to the robotic arm stretching and compressing, its electrical resistance gets converted to an output voltage which is then used as a signal correlating to that movement. Researchers are now focusing on developing artificial limbs that can flexibly handle and manipulate objects in the environment.