Perceives The touch from the fingersThe contact with cold or hot surfacesthe damage inflicted by cuts and stabbed and the feeling generated when multiple points are touched simultaneously: it is the new electronic skin able to give robot a sense of tact very similar to the human one, although Still not equally sensitive. It was created by a group of researchers led by the British University of Cambridge who developed a economic, flexible, resistant and easy to produce material which can wrap around the robotic hands like a glove. But the result, published in the magazine Science Robotics, also opens to applications in other sectors, such as the automotive one or rescue in the event of calamity.
The electronic skin they work converting physical information in electronic signals. In most cases different sensors are used for the different types of touch, which however can interfere with each other and are easily damaged. “Having many different sensors leads to materials difficult to make,” says David Hardman, who led the researchers. “We wanted to develop a solution capable of detecting more types of touch simultaneously, but in a single material. At the same time – continues Hardman – we needed something that was cheap and durable, suitable for widespread use”.
The solution was a particular type of sensor that reacts differently to the different types of touchiNSSE IN AN HYDROGEL based on a soft gelatin, elastic and capable of conducting electrical signalsto which it can be given any form. The skin was then tested in various ways and the information obtained were used for train a model of automatic learning based onArtificial intelligenceto teach him to recognize the different signs. “We are not yet at the level of a robotic as well as human skin – says Thomas George Thuruthel of the University College London, co -author of the study – but we think it is better than any other available currently”.
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I am a journalist with over 6 years of experience working in the news industry. I currently work as an author for Global Happenings, and my coverage focuses on Technology news. I have written for various publications, including Reuters, The New York Times and The Guardian.
