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Saigan Technology has completed tens of millions of yuan in Pre-A round financing. The electronic skin for humanoid robots based on ionogel technology has been mass-produced | Exclusive report by Yingke.

黄 楠2025-07-10 09:30
The world's first mass production line for off - power flexible tactile sensors has been established and has entered the stage of mass shipment.

Author | Huang Nan

Editor | Peng Xiaoqiu

Hard Kr has learned that Sensing Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Sensing Technology") recently completed a Pre-A round of financing worth tens of millions of yuan. This round was led by China Merchants Group Venture Capital, with Amber Capital and industrial player Bojie Co., Ltd. participating as follow-on investors. The funds from this round will be used for core technology investment, product R & D iteration, and exploration of market applications.

Sensing Technology was established in 2023 and focuses on flexible sensing technology. It is dedicated to the R & D, production, and sales of a new generation of high-performance flexible intelligent sensors and robotic electronic skins. The company's technology originates from the Ultra-Flexible Electronics Laboratory of Southern University of Science and Technology. Based on key technological innovations across the entire chain of materials, structures, devices, and systems, it has developed products such as flexible intelligent sensors and electronic skins with high sensitivity, large measurement range, fast response, and high linearity, which can be widely applied in fields such as humanoid robots, consumer electronics, automotive electronics, and medical health.

Guo Chuanfei, the founder and chief scientist, is a tenured professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Southern University of Science and Technology and a recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars. His main research areas include high-performance electronic skins, human flexible electronic technology, and intelligent robots. He has participated in formulating national and industry standards and has applied for more than 40 patents. CEO Xiong Gengchao once served as the general manager of Haier Guangke and the general manager of the Beijing Innovation Center of Haier Smart Home, with rich industrialization and commercialization experience. The team also includes a research team of more than 20 doctors and post - doctors, who have more than a decade of technological R & D experience in fields such as flexible sensors, electronic skins, new materials, and micro - structures.

Flexible intelligent sensors are intelligent devices that use flexible and stretchable substrate materials, such as silicone rubber and nanocomposites, to integrate micro - sensing arrays. They have the ability to sense physical quantities such as pressure, temperature, and strain, and are characterized by thinness, high elasticity, and environmental adaptability. Electronic skin, a bionic integrated system composed of flexible sensors, can simulate the tactile, temperature - sensing, and interactive functions of human skin. In recent years, it has become the focus of the intelligent sensing field, and the market scale has shown an explosive growth trend.

Sensing Technology's high - performance iontronic sensor (Image source/Enterprise)

According to a report by CICC Industry Research Institute, the global market size of flexible tactile sensors was approximately $1.534 billion in 2022 and increased to $2.67 billion in 2024. Forecast data shows that by 2025, the global market size of flexible tactile sensors will reach $3.22 billion, and it is expected to exceed $5 billion by 2029.

Relying on the integration of iontronic materials and micro - structure systems, Sensing Technology uses nano - interface iontronic capacitive technology, that is, the change of sensing signals is achieved through the change of the contact area between the electronic conductor and the ionic conductor. When the contact area increases, the sensor can output a significantly enhanced signal. Traditional sensors often struggle to achieve both high sensitivity and a large measurement range. In contrast, Sensing Technology has launched a high - performance iontronic sensor that can cover the entire measurement range from milligram - level perception to hundred - kilogram - level load - bearing.

For example, a single - point sensor can maintain a linear response within the range of 0 - 2000 kPa, with a detection limit as low as 1 Pa, which is equivalent to a pressure of less than about 10 mg. This means that even when an extremely light pressure is applied, the high - performance iontronic sensor can produce an obvious signal in a low - noise environment, truly achieving high - precision discrimination between signals and noise, and is suitable for fine - operation fields such as humanoid robots that require extremely high precision and sensitivity.

Sensing Technology's high - performance iontronic sensor (Image source/Enterprise)

In terms of materials, Sensing Technology selects non - hygroscopic ion gels and other iontronic materials and combines them with micro - structure bionic design. That is, by optimizing the geometric parameters of the honeycomb array, a double - layer capacitance structure can be constructed on an ultra - thin flexible substrate of 0.1 mm, making the sensor highly elastic and environmentally tolerant, and solving the pain points of traditional flexible sensors such as humidity interference and temperature crosstalk.

This technological characteristic shows significant application value in various scenarios. For example, in the case of household service robots, when the robot is doing housework such as folding clothes, it can identify the fabric of the clothes and sense the softness or hardness of the object, and then adjust the force of the robotic arm through the precise feedback of the sensor to avoid damage caused by excessive force; when delivering tea or water, it can also dynamically adjust the grasping force according to the weight and material of the cup to prevent it from slipping or breaking.

In scenarios with frequent human - machine interactions such as retail, when the robot has physical contact with humans, such as shaking hands or hugging, the sensor can sense the contact force in real - time and provide appropriate force feedback, which not only ensures the comfort of the interaction but also triggers a safety brake through threshold setting to avoid the risk of collision between humans and machines due to improper force control.

Xiong Gengchao, the CEO of Sensing Technology, told Hard Kr, "Generally speaking, sensors have six major performance indicators, namely sensitivity, response time, detection limit, linearity, measurement range, and cycle reliability. At present, we have achieved full - link self - controllability from materials, structures, device processes, preparation methods to data acquisition and analysis, which can effectively improve the drawbacks of traditional sensors and truly achieve the unity of ultra - sensitivity and wide measurement range."

Hard Kr has learned that Sensing Technology has launched corresponding tactile sensing solutions in multiple fields such as humanoid robots, industrial robots, consumer electronics, and automotive electronics, and has entered the supplier list of leading customers in the industry such as Anta. The company has workshops and production lines in both Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Its world's first mass - production line for iontronic flexible tactile sensors was launched in 2024 and has entered the stage of mass - production shipments.

The world's first mass - production line for iontronic flexible sensors (Image source/Enterprise)

In the future, Sensing Technology will continue to increase investment in product R & D and iteration. Relying on academic resources from universities, it will explore cutting - edge research in the field of electronic skins for humanoid robots; at the same time, through technology dissemination, it will focus on improving the user interaction experience and accelerate the application and implementation of flexible intelligent sensors in more fields and scenarios.

Comments from investors:

China Merchants Group Venture Capital said that the core products of Sensing Technology are based on the "electronic skin" technology. Through micro - structure design and material technology, it has formed a technological barrier that is difficult to replicate in the short term, with significant technological R & D barriers. Under the trend of intelligent manufacturing and human - machine interaction upgrade, the technological path of Sensing Technology shows clear commercial value. By combining the standardization and customization of flexible sensing arrays, it not only meets the precise sensing needs of high - end manufacturing scenarios such as robots and automobiles but also enters the mass markets such as consumer electronics and medical health through cost - controllable mass production. At present, Sensing Technology has served leading enterprises in fields such as robots and consumer electronics, forming a practical closed - loop from technology verification to large - scale application, and is expected to become an industry benchmark in the flexible electronic skin track.