New Technology Gives Machines a Sense of Touch
Robots are becoming more and more a part of our everyday lives. They help with many tasks that humans used to do. But one thing holding robots back is that they can’t feel touch. A company in Edinburgh is changing that with new “electronic skin.”
Here are the key points about this electronic skin:
- It prints sensors onto flexible materials that can go on robots
- The sensors let robots feel different kinds of touch and pressure
- Thisย gives robots abilities like handling delicate objects gently
- It also enables robots to avoid bumping into things and causing damage
So why is giving robots a sense of touch so important? And how does this electronic skin work? Let’s take a closer look.
Why Robots Need to Feel
Almost every animal has a sense of touch through their skin. Touch helps creatures understand and safely move around their environments.
According to the researchers, robots’ lack of ability to feel is the “bottleneck” holding them back from doing more. Without touch, robots are limited in sensing their surroundings. They may bump into objects or handle things too roughly.
The scientists wanted to solve this fundamental problem. They wanted robots “to get into unstructured environments in the real world” by giving them the abilities of human touch.
How Electronic Skin Works
The electronic skin is made by printing sensors onto thin, flexible materials. These printed materials can then be applied directly onto robots like a “skin” coating.
The sensors in the e-skin can detect different types of touch and varying pressure levels. The robot’s control systems receive this tactile information.
Some examples of what the skin allows robots to do:
- Feel if they are gripping or handling something too tightly
- Detect that they are about to collide with an object in their path
- Since the delicate pressure needed to hold a fragile item safely
- Determine the right amount of force for specific physical tasks
So, with e-skin, robots can move and operate in real-world settings more like humans. Their sense of touch keeps them from crashing into things or applying too much force.
Robots Using E-Skin in Hospitals
One place already using this electronic skin technology is a hospital in Finland. There, the researchers have set up an “avatar” robot with e-skin sensors on its fingertips.
Nurses remotely control the robot from a different location. They wear a VR headset and haptic gloves that let them see and feel what the robot senses.
This setup allows the nurses to interact with patients safely, even during situations like the COVID-19 pandemic. The robot’s skin gives it a gentle sense of touch, so it won’t harm anyone.
In the hospital, nurses can remotely use the robot to:
- Speak with patients
- Deliver food and medicine
- Check on their condition with gentle physical exams
In the future, machine learning could make these robots able to reposition patients or do other medical tasks on their own.
Just the Beginning for Touch Robots
While an essential first step, the current electronic skin is “still fundamentally very different from human touch,” according to the researchers. Much more advanced skins will be needed as robots take on more prominent real-world roles.
The scientists plan to cover entire robot bodies with e-skin sensors eventually. This could allow robots to do practical jobs like changing wound dressings, all while detecting and preventing any accidental bumps or too much force.
The technology is part of an emerging field called “tactile intelligence.” As robots become more intelligent and capable, giving them a human-like sense of touch will be critical.
With electronic skin, the future of robotics looks a little less cold and robotic – and a lot more like how we experience the world through our skin.
What other abilities do you think robots need beyond just touch to help alongside humans?
