Some Scientists Made Artificial Skin For Robots So They Can Feel Touch

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  A team of scientists at the Technical University of Munich have just unveiled artificial skin for robots that can help them feel and respond to touch. 

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  via CNN

  The supply and demand for robots has risen unprecedentedly in the past few years, with around 85 industrial robots for every 100,000 employees, according to the International Federation of Robots. Although the majority of robots in the workforce are kept separate from their human colleagues, this is predicted to change in the next few years.
  

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  Currently, experts are concerned that robots are able to exert strong force, which could potentially injure humans. However, if the robots are enabled with a sense of touch, they will be able to detect contact and apply the correct amount of pressure. This ability to feel touch and respond with the correct amount of  pressure will also be beneficial for the development of robots  funcitoning as care givers, companions and health workers.
  

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  via CNN

  The researchers developed the synthetic skin after studying the skin of humans. Every person has around 5 million skin receptors, which tell our brains what's happening on our skin's surface. However, the brain doesn't focus on every point where the skin touches something - if it did, the brain would be overwhelmed (think of the things that are constantly touching your skin: clothes, shoes, jewelry, hair on your neck, the chair you are sitting on, the ground under your feet).

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  Instead, the brain prioritizes on the new sensations. This is what the research team mimicked. The robot (which is called H-1) has 13,000 sensors from shoulder to toe that can detect proximity, pressure, acceleration and temperature. It is these function that make human interactions reciprocal and safe. 

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  via New Atlas

  Scientists have been attemtping to develop the technology that gives robots tactile sensation for many years, but they were going about it the wrong way. Most have attempted to processes the signals from all the sensors at once, requiring vast amounts of computing power. However, the team at Munich University developed a system that only sends signals when individual cells are activated (shown by the red cells in the photo). This not only saves computing power, but also acts more like human skin. 

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  It is breakthroughs like this that takes us closer to interacting, working with and being looked after by robots one day.
  

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