Soft-matter damage detection systems for electronics and structures

Soft-matter technologies are essential for emerging applications in wearable computing, human-machine interaction, and soft robotics. However, as these technologies gain adoption in society and interact with unstructured environments, material and structure damage becomes inevitable. Here, we present a robotic material that mimics soft tissues found in biological systems to identify, compute, and respond to damage. This system is composed of liquid metal droplets dispersed in soft elastomers that rupture when damaged, creating electrically conductive pathways that are identified with a soft active-matrix grid. This presents new opportunities to autonomously identify damage, calculate severity, and respond to prevent failure within robotic systems.