Scientists have created a new robotic skin that allows robots to sense touch in a way that closely mimics human feeling. The skin is low-cost, durable, and highly sensitive. It can be added to robot hands like a glove, helping robots collect detailed touch information from their environment.
According to UPI, the research was completed by teams from the University of Cambridge and University College London. The skin can detect up to 860,000 different types of touch. Although it is not yet as sensitive as human skin, it is more advanced than current robotic alternatives.
“Having different sensors for different types of touch leads to materials that are complex to make,” said Dr. David Hardman from Cambridge’s Department of Engineering. “We wanted to develop a solution that can detect multiple types of touch at once, but in a single material.”
The scientists used physical tests and machine learning to teach robots how to recognize touch in a way that is similar to humans. They plan to further improve the robotic skin and test it in real-world settings.
Article updated 1 day ago. Content is written and modified by multiple authors.