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Generally, robots are designed to perform a single task. To make them more adaptable, researchers at Yale University have developed a kind of "robotic skin" that transforms ordinary objects into multifunctional robots.
It's called OmniSkins and was designed by Assistant Professor Rebecca Kramer-Bottiglio and her colleagues at Yale University. OmniSkins is extremely versatile: it is a versatile system with no specific task. This allows inanimate objects to move or give an extra boost to robots or animals in need. Eventually, electrical skin could be used to create more effective search and rescue robots, allow locomotion in everyday objects, and improve portable or assistive devices. A report on the OmniSkins project, funded primarily by a NASA research grant, was released today in Science Robotics.
Kramer-Bottiglio had the idea a few years ago when NASA asked developers to build more powerful and versatile robotic robotic systems. For NASA, the need for this type of technology is obvious. Astronauts could use OmniSkins, or something like that, to adapt and reuse the tools on board the International Space Station. A robotic arm, for example, could be made from a piece of foam. More conceptually, the system could be used to create a ball-shaped Mars rover, able to roll and bounce on the tough terrain of the red planet.
OmniSkins is made from elastic sheets incorporating sensors and actuators. The soft sheets can be wrapped or attached to a soft, malleable surface, such as a stuffed animal or foam tube. The skins "animate" these objects by applying a force on their surface, causing distinct movements.
"We can take the skins and wrap them around an object to perform a task – locomotion, for example – then remove them and place them on a different object to perform a different task, like grabbing and moving an object" Kramer-Bottiglio in a statement. "We can then remove these same skins from this item and put them on a shirt to make it an active wearable device."
Robotic skin not only initiates movement, but it can also detect the "retreat" of an object to help the system know the force needed to generate motion. The movement achieved by an object "depends on the relationship between the dimensions, material properties and strength capabilities of the skin and the dimensions and stiffness characteristics of the body," write the authors in the study. Robots can be remotely controlled by an operator or by using built-in light sensors.
During testing, the system allowed a stuffed horse to walk on all fours and a foam cylinder to move like a worm. It has also been used to create a gripper capable of grasping and moving objects, and a portable device that, worn as a t-shirt, corrects bad posture.
As we have noted, the strength of this technology lies in its versatility, since most robotic systems usually have a single purpose. With these robotic skins, however, one could potentially create all kinds of different robots, and even change their functions on the fly. Several appearances can be applied to the same object, further expanding functionality by allowing more complex movements. The system is lightweight, easily transportable and can be used on a wide variety of materials. In fact, researchers say that OmniSkins could even be used on crumpled paper balls and balloons.
In the future, the team wants to further streamline the system and possibly manufacture parts using a 3D printer.
OmniSkins is a cool idea, but suddenly, the inanimate objects that litter my house seem a little more threatening than usual.
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