Researchers have developed a flexible sensor \u201cskin\u201d that can be wrapped around a finger or any other part of a robot or prosthetic device to help convey a sense of touch, enabling them to perform everything from surgical and industrial procedures to cleaning a kitchen.The bio-inspired robot sensor skin mimics the way a human finger experiences tension and compression as it slides along a surface or distinguishes among different textures and can detect tiny vibrations at 800 times per second, better than human fingers.<\/p>\n
The study, detailed in the journal Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, demonstrated that the physically robust and chemically resistant sensor skin could vastly improve the ability of robots to perform everything from surgical and industrial procedures to cleaning a kitchen, opening a door, interacting with a phone, shaking hands, picking up packages and handling objects, among others.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy mimicking human physiology in a flexible electronic skin, we have achieved a level of sensitivity and precision that\u2019s consistent with human hands, which is an important breakthrough,\u201d said Jonathan Posner, Professor at University of Washington.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sense of touch is critical for both prosthetic and robotic applications, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re ultimately creating,\u201d Posner added.<\/p>\n
The stretchable electronic skin is made from the same silicon rubber used in swimming goggles.<\/p>\n
The rubber is embedded with tiny serpentine channels\u2014roughly half the width of a human hair\u2014filled with electrically conductive liquid metal that won\u2019t crack or fatigue when the skin is stretched, as solid wires would do.<\/p>\n
When the skin is placed around a robot finger or end effector, these microfluidic channels are strategically placed on either side of where a human fingernail would be.<\/p>\n
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