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This story is from the category Augmenting Organics
Date posted: 16/08/2005 The sense of touch requires three elements: Sense of pressure, sense of temperature, and sense of texture. Haptics and tactile sensors can give humans artificial pressure and artificial texture senses, but they cannot yet give temperature. Robotics on the other hand, has a different problem. Researchers at Japan?s University of Tokyo have now developed a flexible artificial skin that has two of the three necessary senses: pressure and temperature. Two separate skins, one which is covered with pressure-sensitive sensors, and one which is covered with temperature sensors have been successfully laminated together into a single skin which is as flexible as human skin, ideal for covering robotic limbs. The skin wraps tightly enough for a little finger, and is relatively cheap to mass-produce. Takao Someya, lead author on the latest research had previously developed a form of artificial skin capable of sensing pressure. The addition of temperature, without hindering flexibility, makes for a significant step forwards. See the full Story via external site: news.bbc.co.uk Most recent stories in this category (Augmenting Organics): 04/05/2013: Printable 'bionic' ear melds electronics and biology |
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