ARTIFICIAL skin embedded with optical sensors could help robots develop a more human touch.
Existing sensors, such as those based on simple pressure switches and motor resistance, are limited in their ability to detect subtle changes in pressure and to distinguish between different textures. A key reason for this is the electrical components and wires they are made from tend to be inflexible.
Building in a lot of sensors will give a robot additional useful information about what it is touching and handling. However, placing large numbers of traditional sensors close together increases the potential for electromagnetic interference.
To get around these obstacles, Jeroen Missinne and colleagues at Ghent University in Belgium have developed a flexible "skin" containing optical sensors.
The skin consists of two layers of parallel polymer strips lying perpendicular to each other to form a grid. These are separated by a thin sheet of plastic. Light is ...