The final hurdle: Robots with a sense of touch
Robot arms are being given a sense of touch so they can interact better with their environment. | Photo: Scuola Sant’Anna / Youtube
Our skin contains hundreds of thousands of tactile receptors whose signals are processed by the brain at lightning speed. Replicating this system with conventional electronics would require complex wiring and enormous computing power. This is why today’s robots can only hear and see but not feel. A research team with members from ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich has now developed an innovative approach to the problem. They have embedded sensors in a soft silicone skin that can register being touched, and have combined these with a chip that can process signals in real time.
The circuits in the chip emulate biological neurons, meaning that they work extremely quickly and in an energy-efficient manner. With this sense of touch, robots might interact better with their environment, while people with spinal cord injuries could benefit from neuroprosthetics that enable them to feel pressure.
