What would happen if the robots could feel the heat or an injury like us? A team of researchers from Cambridge (UCL) and London universities have developed electronic skin capable of giving the sense of touch to a robot. The study appeared in the scientific journal Robotics of science.
Your particularity? It is in the form of an frost that can be molded in almost any form, for a lower price the University of Cambridge affirms.
The researchers carried out several tests by giving their freezing the appearance of a human hand. In a video posted on YouTube, we can see the detection of the artificial organ with some precision the location of different contact points.
A versatile gel
This hand with the gelatinous appearance is actually the conduct of electricity. Any contact that sits in the false organ is transmitted to the wrist. This highly sensitive material is capable of differentiating various types of sensations, such as the state (solid or liquid), the temperature or pressure resistance.
The gel can even know if it is affected by a human being or if it is damaged, by a cut, for example. This gel is a versatile sensor called “multimodal.” This avoids using a different type of sensor for each sensation.
This innovation leads to future robots generations to the functioning of a closer organic being. However, the university specifies that the work does not reach the stage in which the robotic skin is as good as human skin. “In this hand prototype, there are still almost 860,000 connections (which work a bit like nerve cells).
Multiple uses
Several advantages of this technology will be extracted, beginning to handle fragile objects. When detecting the pressure exerted on an object, a robot can evaluate the optimal force to understand it without breaking it.
This skin can also find interest when a machine must carry out risky work. The skin would indicate to the robot the presence of a potential danger to act accordingly. For example, if the hand of a machine is exposed to flame, you can quickly remove it to avoid more damage.
But it could be used for operations that require great precision, for example in medicine, a sector where robotics is very popular. You can even imagine the creation of prostheses from this frost.
You can also find a use for “cobots”, robots designed to collaborate with employees. A strong sense of touch is essential for this type of machine to avoid injuring a human.
In any case, the research team intends to continue their studies on this material and explore its possibilities. Other laboratories are interested in skin concepts for similar robots. Researchers from the universities of Tokyo and Harvard had significantly presented artificial cell skin with the appearance close to that of a human.
Source: BFM TV
