A team of scientists has developed electronic skin that could pave the way for soft, flexible robotic devices to assist in surgical procedures or help people move around, says the study published in the journal Nature Machine Intelligence posted on the site METRO.
The perceptual senses that this new technology endowed with robotic devices are similar to those of humans and animals. Dr. Yunjie Yang, of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Engineering, who led the study, said this new level of bodily self-awareness represented a step change in the sensing capabilities of soft robots..
The flexibility of the technology we developed means that it can be applied to various soft robots to enable them to accurately perceive their shape and movements, ultimately, this means that we are now closer to making some of the most exciting ideas in soft robotics a reality,” said study co-leader Dr Francesco Giorgio Sirchi.
Electronic skin is the latest development in computer science and artificial intelligence since the university established its first research centers in the disciplines 60 years ago..
University of Edinburgh researchers’ creation of stretchable electronic skin gives soft robots for the first time a level of physical self-awareness similar to that of people and animals.
Experts say this technology could help make breakthroughs in soft robotics by enabling the devices to accurately detect their movement in the most surrounding areas and by touch sense their presence and location.
Soft robots — made of flexible materials rather than metal or rigid plastic — with e-skin could have a range of applications, including surgical instruments, prostheses, and devices for exploring hazardous environments.
Unlike traditional rigid robots, which have a defined range of motions, soft robots are highly flexible. The researchers say this poses a major challenge to developing the sensor systems necessary for robots to carry out precise tasks and interact safely with people and the environment. Without electronic skin, it is difficult for soft robots to understand their movement and shape, and how these traits interact with their environment.
The University of Edinburgh team is the first to develop a technology that overcomes this problem and provides soft robots with high-precision, real-time sensing capabilities..
The researchers created a flexible electronic skin made of a thin layer of silicon embedded with sensitive wires and detectors. Using electronic skin — which is 1 millimeter thick — in conjunction with artificial intelligence, researchers have been able to give soft robots the ability to rapidly sense their movements and deformations with millimeter accuracy in three dimensions, in real time..
The team tested their electronic skin by fitting it into a soft robotic arm. They found that the technology was able to sense a range of complex bending, stretching and twisting motions across every part of the device.