New developments continue to affect the world of robotics. Researchers are confident they can let robots acquire a sense akin to how humans perceive touch.
When an animate machine interacts with inanimate objects, there is no haptic feedback.
Robots Can Acquire a Sense of Touch
That is one of the crucial factors that will always make robots different from humans.
Or, at least, that is what everyone assumed until last month.
Scientists have successfully created an artificial skin for robots to let them experience physical contact.
A groundbreaking development regarding future robot-human interactions, but also a concept that raises plenty of tough questions.
If robots are destined to accommodate human workers, having a sense of touch will become crucial.
This is particularly important when considering how much force a robot could apply, either on objects or even human beings.
By introducing this artificial skin, robotics will be able to apply the correct force for completing specific tasks.
It is very difficult to mimic human skin and touch receptors, however.
In the human body, there are millions of skin receptors sending signals to the brain.
The only robot using this new artificial skin has over 23,000 sensors capable of detecting temperature changes, proximity, and pressure.
There are vast differences between the two, albeit significant process has been made in recent years.
As this new potential is unlocked, the number of use cases for robots increases exponentially.
It would even become possible for robotic workers to become carers, assuming that option ever needs to be explored.
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