Recently, a breakthrough in stretchable electronics that can serve as an artificial skin, allowed a robotic hand to possess more of one of the five senses — touch. The robotic hand can sense the difference between hot and cold, and the stretchable electronics will also offer advantages for a wide range of other areas.
The work from the team of researchers of the University of Houston describes a new mechanism for producing stretchable electronics, a process that relies on readily available materials and could be scaled up for commercial production.
Professor Cunjiang Yu, who is the lead author of the paper, said the work is the first to create a semiconductor in a rubber composite format, designed to allow the electronic components to retain functionality even after the material is stretched by 50 percent.
His semiconductor is different from the traditional semiconductors. They are not brittle, and using them in otherwise stretchable materials has required a complicated system of mechanical accommodations. Their new discovery is less complex, less expensive, and more stable.
The work from the team of researchers of the University of Houston describes a new mechanism for producing stretchable electronics, a process that relies on readily available materials and could be scaled up for commercial production.
Professor Cunjiang Yu, who is the lead author of the paper, said the work is the first to create a semiconductor in a rubber composite format, designed to allow the electronic components to retain functionality even after the material is stretched by 50 percent.
His semiconductor is different from the traditional semiconductors. They are not brittle, and using them in otherwise stretchable materials has required a complicated system of mechanical accommodations. Their new discovery is less complex, less expensive, and more stable.
Professor Yu and the rest of the team created the electronic skin and used it to demonstrate that a robotic hand could sense the temperature of hot and iced water in a cup. The skin also was able to interpret computer signals sent to the hand and reproduce the signals as American Sign Language. The robotic skin is also capable to translate the gesture to readable letters that a person can understand.
The artificial skin is just one application. Researchers said the discovery of a material that is soft, bendable, stretchable and twistable will impact future development in soft wearable electronics, including health monitors, medical implants, and human-machine interfaces.
Source: https://www.rankred.com/robotic-hand-artificial-skin-gains-sense-touch/
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