Robots get synthetic leather with memory

Mankind uses the robotic arms for quite some time; today they are able to capture a lot of different things with extraordinary skill. However, to teach the robot a gentle touch is much more difficult. The robotic arm is facing difficulties, when it is necessary to pull one specific item from the heap, or to take and not to damage the fragile objects such as, for example, fruit.

Researchers from Nanyang Technological University, located in Singapore, have developed a way to store information obtained robot at the touch of subjects. Integrated into a flexible artificial skin sensors can store the changes in electrical resistance when force is applied to the subject. Ultra-thin memory device capable of storing this information within a week.

The sensors were designed in the likeness of human tactile memory, which allows us to remember the feeling when you touch even after contact. Leatherette help the robot to identify the object to which he touched before, and use appropriate force to capture him. Usually it requires complex algorithms and very productive processors to create a robot that can recognize and capture different objects. However, if you store information in artificial skin sensors, the robot main processor free for other tasks.

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