Super Sensitive Skin For Robots

We have already heard of the robots getting human like in physical appearance and form. To outdo that, here comes a technique which will make the robots sense the touch of any object just like humans do. This super skin is so extremely sensitive that it can outdo the humans in a lot of tasks.

The scientist of Stanford had developed a sensor for artificial skin to help the robots feel the sensation of the touch. Known as the ‘Super Skin’ this artificial skin is so sensitive that it can sense a fly landing on the robot. This skin which can detect the slightest of the pressures due to touch is the outcome of the electronic sensor developed by the scientist of Stanford. The flexible organic transistor made with the polymers and carbon based materials form the basic foundation of this mimic of the human skin. The sensor is a precisely molded highly elastic rubber layer placed between two parallel electrodes forming a sandwich like structure. Just like a capacitor or a battery, the thin rubber between the electrodes stores the electrical energy. This thin film of rubber is molded into a grid of tiny pyramids. This microstructure of grids gives the rubber the property of an ideal spring. The thickness of this super skin is less than even a millimeter, including the rubber layer and the two electrodes both. To add to the list this super skin is self powering with polymer solar cells.

An associate chemical engineering Professor Zhenan Bao, who led the research, stated to Nature that this super skin is capable of sensing a pressure of a mass as low as 20 milligram. This they found out when they tested the skin with the carcass of a bluebottle fly which is very light. The skin is efficient enough to feel this light pressure within unparalleled time making it all the while better. The flexibility is so good that the skin can be stretched up to 30% beyond its original length and also restore to its original shape and size almost instantly. It can distinguish between different touch sensations in quick successions as the time of compression of the skin and time taken to rebound back is very less. The change in the thickness due to the effect of pressure causes the flow of current through the transistor to change and thus, the skin senses the touch.

Professor Bao is presently also working on principles to detect chemicals and various other biological molecules. This will lead to further more applications of this invention. With this invention the Robots are sure to become too sensitive to things around them and this will certainly find application in a lot of fields including prosthetic limbs. What do you think about this CEans?

[Source of news : nature.com]