• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Subscribe
  • Your Membership
    • Edit Your Profile
  • Services
    • Advertising
    • Case studies
    • Design
    • Email marketing
    • Lead generation
    • Magazine
    • Press releases
    • Publishing
    • Sponsored posts
    • Webcasting
    • Webinars
    • White papers
    • Writing
  • Shop
    • My Account
    • Cart
  • About
    • Contact
    • Privacy
    • Terms of use
  • Events

Robotics & Automation News

Market trends and business perspectives

  • News
  • Features
  • Video
  • Webinars
  • White papers
  • Press releases
  • Featured companies
    • BlueBotics
    • SICK Sensor Intelligence
    • Vicor Power

Artificial skin brings robots closer to ‘touching’ human lives

February 11, 2021 by Zakia Leave a Comment

Modern-day robots are often required to interact with humans intelligently and efficiently, which can be enabled by providing them the ability to perceive touch.

However, previous attempts at mimicking human skin have involved bulky and complex electronics, wiring, and a risk of damage.

In a recent study, researchers from Japan sidestep these difficulties by constructing a 3D vision-guided artificial skin that enables tactile sensing with high performance, opening doors to innumerable applications in medicine, healthcare, and industry.

Robots have come a long way since their original inception for high-speed automation. Today, robots can be found in a wide variety of roles in medicine, rehabilitation, agriculture, and marine navigation. Since a lot of these roles require human contact, robots are expected to become adept at interacting with humans in a safe and intelligent manner.

One way to accomplish this goal is by endowing robots with the ability to perceive touch. Accordingly, attempts have been made to develop artificial “skins” capable of inducing tactile sensations and allowing robots to be more aware of their surrounding environment, in the same way humans are.

However, despite great advances in tactile sensor technology, the endeavor remains challenging.

“The main challenge lies in mimicking the inherent complexity of natural skin structure that has a particularly high density of mechanoreceptors with specialized functions such as sensing pressure, vibrations, temperature, and pain,” says Associate Professor Van Anh Ho from Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, where he leads a laboratory working on soft haptic technology.

He adds, “All approaches so far have only focused on developing a skin-like structure with a matrix of different sensors without considering the bulk of wires, electronic components, and the risk of damage from frequent contact.”

In a new study published in IEEE Transactions on Robotics, Professor Ho and his colleague Lac Van Duong, a doctoral student at JAIST, developed a high-performance, vision-based artificial sensing system that is low-cost, has a relative simple structure, and is scalable.

Named TacLINK, this system can process tactile information and even determine contact force and contact geometry upon interacting with the surroundings.

The researchers based the structure of TacLINK essentially on a transparent acrylic tube (serving as a rigid bone frame) covered by a continuous soft artificial skin with a sensing area of about 500 sq cm.

They used silicone rubber to fabricate the artificial skin due to its high elasticity and smoothness. Moreover, the material could be inflated to change its form and stiffness.

The researchers printed an array of markers on the surface of this skin to track its deformation instead of embedding sensors or electronic components inside the skin. This greatly reduced its bulkiness, cost, and chances of possible damage.

The vision system consisted of two co-axial cameras arranged to form a stereo camera that tracked the 3D displacement of the markers on the inner wall of the skin. In addition, researchers employed a finite element model (FEM) to estimate the structural stiffness of the skin.

By combining the data from both these sources, they were able to reconstruct the contact geometry and contact force distribution simultaneously. Moreover, unlike in previous studies, this method worked for multiple contact points.

With such positive outcomes, Professor Ho is hopeful about the creation of a future generation of touch-sensing-enabled robotic devices.

“The artificial skin used in our study can be easily fabricated by the casting method and can, therefore, be implemented on other parts of robots, such as fingers, legs, chests, and heads, and even for smart prosthetics for humans, allowing a disabled person to perceive sensations the same way as a normal human,” comments Professor Ho excitedly.

“In addition, it can also be used to design various sensory devices in medicine, healthcare, and industry. In fact, it is especially suited for the development of robotic systems in the post-Covid era to enable remote service with robotic avatars.”

It certainly seems like the robots of the near future will be “touching” human lives more than ever before.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Share this:

  • Print
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest
  • Skype
  • WhatsApp
  • Telegram
  • Pocket

You might also like…

Filed Under: News, Science Tagged With: artificial, contact, damage, high, ho, human, humans, medicine, perceive, researchers, robotic, robots, sensing, skin, structure, study, system, tactile, technology

Join the Robotics & Automation News community

Reader Interactions

You must log in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

Latest articles

  • How Additive Manufacturing Works and Provides Benefits
  • How is technology and innovation changing the field of photography?
  • How robots and RPA will change the business of the future
  • The Pros and Cons of Selling vs Trading in Your Vehicle
  • How to Ensure Your Drivers Stay Safe on the Road
  • Reasons Why You Need to Buy a Rotary Fill and Seal Coffee Packaging Machine
  • Fulfyld selects inVia Robotics to automate warehouses
  • DB Schenker to operate zero-emission autonomous ship for Ekornes
  • Southie Autonomy secures $2.5 million seed funding and $5 million in robot lease financing
  • Daimler Truck makes strategic investment in Apex.AI

Most Read

  • Top 20 electric vehicle charging station companies
    Top 20 electric vehicle charging station companies
  • Track your lost Android
    Track your lost Android
  • Difference Between Three-Phase and Single-Phase Power
    Difference Between Three-Phase and Single-Phase Power
  • Top 20 programmable logic controller manufacturers
    Top 20 programmable logic controller manufacturers
  • Top 25 vertical farming companies
    Top 25 vertical farming companies
  • The Best Mechanical Engineering Design Software in 2022
    The Best Mechanical Engineering Design Software in 2022
  • Top 10 graphics processing unit manufacturers: Nvidia clearly in the lead
    Top 10 graphics processing unit manufacturers: Nvidia clearly in the lead
  • Scientists have found more water in space than they ever knew possible
    Scientists have found more water in space than they ever knew possible
  • What You Need to Know About Fixing an Engine Misfire
    What You Need to Know About Fixing an Engine Misfire
  • ADAS: Top 40 advanced driver assistance systems companies
    ADAS: Top 40 advanced driver assistance systems companies

Overused words

abb ai applications automated automation automotive autonomous business china companies company control customers data design development digital electric global industrial industry logistics machine manufacturing market mobile platform process production robot robotic robotics robots safety software solution solutions system systems technologies technology time vehicle vehicles warehouse

Secondary Sidebar

Latest news

  • How Additive Manufacturing Works and Provides Benefits
  • How is technology and innovation changing the field of photography?
  • How robots and RPA will change the business of the future
  • The Pros and Cons of Selling vs Trading in Your Vehicle
  • How to Ensure Your Drivers Stay Safe on the Road
  • Reasons Why You Need to Buy a Rotary Fill and Seal Coffee Packaging Machine
  • Fulfyld selects inVia Robotics to automate warehouses
  • DB Schenker to operate zero-emission autonomous ship for Ekornes
  • Southie Autonomy secures $2.5 million seed funding and $5 million in robot lease financing
  • Daimler Truck makes strategic investment in Apex.AI

Footer

We are…

Robotics and Automation News was established in May, 2015, and is now one of the most widely-read websites in its category.

Please consider supporting us by becoming a paying subscriber, or through advertising and sponsorships, or by purchasing products and services through our shop – or a combination of all of the above.

Thank you.

Independent

Archivists

February 2021
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
« Jan   Mar »

Complex

Old-skool

This website and its associated magazine, and weekly newsletter, are all produced by a small team of experienced journalists and media professionals.

If you have any suggestions or comments, feel free to contact us at any of the email addresses on our contact page.

We’d be happy to hear from you, and will always reply as soon as possible.

Future-facing

Free, fair and legal

We support the principles of net neutrality and equal opportunities.

Member of The Internet Defense League

Copyright © 2022 · News Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT