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A new type of flexible robot gets its energy from the skin in which it is inserted.
Robotic skin that folds, stretches, and contracts can wrap inanimate objects such as stuffed animals, foam tubes, or balloons to create soft, lightweight robots. Removable and reusable sheets of this artificial skin, described online September 19 Science Robotics, could also be used to build pliers or wearable devices.
"It's an interesting approach," says Christopher Atkeson, a robot scientist at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, who was not involved in the job. In some cases, it may be simpler to use a ready-to-use software robot for a specific purpose, such as crossing small spaces (SN Online: 19/07/17) or by gently grasping objects (SN: 9/16/17, p. 8). But robotic skins can be useful for search and rescue or space exploration – missions where a user may not know in advance what kind of robotic help they need,
Each piece of robotic skin is made of elastic polymer or fabric, incorporating either air pockets that inflate when pumped full of gas, or nickel-titanium coils that shrink when they are compressed. they are heated by an electric current. These pockets and coils of gas allow the robotic skin to move and change shape.
Rebecca Kramer-Bottiglio, an engineer at Yale University, and her colleagues used the skin to build several robots. The researchers performed different types of movements by altering the arrangement of air pockets or turns in the skin and by fixing pieces of skin to an object in various configurations.
For example, by wrapping the skin around foam tubes in different orientations, robots were created that sneaked like caterpillars or moved forward at two ends. Robotic skin patches around three fingers of foam animated a robotic forceps.
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ROBOT SQUAD The wrapping of robotic skins around foam tubes in different configurations can create robots that paddle (up) or in inches (down). Alternatively, even without a host body, a robotic skin can cross the ground (center). |
The researchers also attached a robotic skin to a shirt to create a garment that monitors the posture. Every time the skin felt the user's sagging shoulders, she wriggled gently to remind the wearer to sit down. According to Atkeson, robotic skin could also be used in clothing to give a massage to the user or to provide tactile feedback in virtual reality.SN Online: 4/6/18).
Robotic skin is not yet ready for standard use. To function, each piece must be attached to pipes or wires feeding its gas pockets or electric batteries. But future versions could include portable air and electrical pressure devices, says Kramer-Bottiglio.
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