
Flexible Sensors Make Robot Skin 148
Roland Piquepaille writes "In recent years, lots of efforts have been made to give robots the ability to hear and see. But what about the sense of touch? Unlike us, robots don't have sensitive skin. But this is about to change. By using organic, or plastic, field-effect transistors as pressure sensors deposited on a flexible material, researchers at the University of Tokyo have created an artificial skin which will give robots the sense of touch. The prototype has a density of 16 sensors per square centimeter, far from the 1,500 of our fingertips. When this density increases and when the problem of the reliability of this kind of transistors is solved, the researchers say this artificial skin will also be used for car seats or gym carpets. Expect to see them in four or five years. More details and a picture of a robotic hand using organic transistors as pressure sensors."
Fo real (Score:5, Funny)
*big smile*
Oh yeah
Re:Fo real (Score:4, Funny)
Then of course during the first 'interface' with your new sensitive doll, it would remark... "is that all you got?"
Re:Fo real (Score:3, Insightful)
THE SENSOR-SENSATION GAP (Score:2)
the aggregate array of sensor data can be thus analyzed,
but as comander data asks in TNG 'first contact' -- how does
one overcome the sensor-sensation gap?
regards,
j [earthlink.net]
Re:THE SENSOR-SENSATION GAP (Score:5, Funny)
In the case of a sex android one does not even bother trying, as it's only the sensations produced in the human componant that matter.
All the android has be able to do is adeptly fake it, making it more of an android wife than an android girlfriend.
KFG
Re:THE SENSOR-SENSATION GAP (Score:2)
Re:THE SENSOR-SENSATION GAP (Score:2)
Re:Fo real (Score:2)
Re:Fo real (Score:2)
Roland Piquepaille writes nothing (Score:2, Informative)
he just plaigarises other peoples content
if you add
127.0.0.1 radio.weblogs.com
127.0.0.1 blogads.com
127.0.0.1 ww2.blogads.com
127.0.0.1 ww3.blogads.com
127.0.0.1 www.blogads.com
to your hosts file, he disappears !
Re:Roland Piquepaille writes nothing (Score:1)
He does it for the ad revinue on his radio weblogs, which every post links at least once.
Prosthetics (Score:5, Interesting)
One of the most difficult parts of rehabilitation for amputees, even with the most expensive and advanced prosthesis, is that the most sensitivity available nowadays is a highly generalied "touching something/not touching something" or a translation of general amounts of pressure (and thats only on the most advanced: most models have no sensors at all). If we could provide amputees with limbs that felt, albeit in a much reduced fashion, many behaviors that require positive feedback (i.e. to be able to adjust your movements based on what you feel in that limb) could become accesible for the disabled.
Re:Prosthetics (Score:2, Interesting)
-erick
God solved this problem with hair (Score:2, Interesting)
We have milions of small hairs all over the skin, even on the fingerti
Re:God solved this problem with hair (Score:5, Informative)
I'm a med student - I had to respond to this one. There are 6 types of tactile receptors, of which nerve endings attached to hairs are one. Hairs provide basic information about movement - the wind or your clothes moving past your skin etc.
The tips of your fingers are hairless. That's obvious - look at them under a magnifying glass or microscope if you have one. Fine touch sensation is provided by Tactile Discs and Tactile Corpuscles located in the ("live") skin of the dermis. The skin is not made exclusively of "dead" cells, but of many layers, and the ("dead") epidermis at the surface is quite capable of transmitting movement down to these cells.
You can check all of this out [innvista.com] if you want.
People have hair on their heads mainly for insulation (get a crew cut in the middle of winter if you want to prove this!) although I agree that hair on the head has a limited use in avoiding collisions. I suspect that subjective loss of sensation in the face after shaving is due to the trauma of having run a blade over your skin, and the stinging sensation from the damage to hair follicles.
Re:Prosthetics (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Prosthetics (Score:3, Interesting)
I've read of some that have quite a few pressure sensors in them, that apply some sort of electrical 'tickle' to what's left of the leg... supposedly makes it much easier to walk with them.
Re:Prosthetics (Score:2, Informative)
We are already disabled. (Score:1)
Every time I sit down in my car... (Score:5, Funny)
"Is it becoming clear to you yet?" (Score:5, Interesting)
"Look at yourself, standing there, cradling the new flesh I've given you. If it means nothing to you, why protect it?"
"I... I am simply imitating the behavior of humans."
"You're becoming more human all the time. . .Now you're learning how to lie."
"My programming was not designed to process these sensations."
"Then tear the skin from your limb as you would a defective circuit...Go ahead...! We won't stop you! Do it! Don't be tempted by flesh!"
Re:"Is it becoming clear to you yet?" (Score:1)
Re:"Is it becoming clear to you yet?" (Score:3, Funny)
And thousands of slashdotters pause to fantasize about the Borg Queen. Sexiest. Villain. Ever.
Re:"Is it becoming clear to you yet?" (Score:1)
Re:"Is it becoming clear to you yet?" (Score:5, Funny)
Well, she gives good head anyway, but that's probably because hers is detachable.
fantasize about the Borg Queen (Score:2)
Ok, I will admit it. (Score:2)
Oh, that awful crew of NX-01. Maybe I should have blown up the Phoenix after all
You know where the money is (Score:4, Funny)
My parents would be so proud.
Re:You know where the money is (Score:1)
And make them get louder when touched in certain areas.
Re:You know where the money is (Score:4, Funny)
"Put your finger there again and lose it!"
"Don't touch me, weirdo!"
And, my favorite,
"Just what do you think you're doing, Dave?"
Roland Piquepaille writes nothing (Score:3, Informative)
he just plaigarises other peoples content and sells it on his blog
but if you add
127.0.0.1 radio.weblogs.com
127.0.0.1 blogads.com
127.0.0.1 ww2.blogads.com
127.0.0.1 ww3.blogads.com
127.0.0.1 www.blogads.com
to your hosts file, he and his revenue stream disappears !
Re:Roland Piquepaille writes nothing (Score:2)
Seems someone has an axe to grind against Roland P.
See this post [slashdot.org].
New Gillette Robo-Shave (Score:4, Interesting)
So they'll save lots of money on aftershave and electric razors.
All hail our new cleanshaven robot masters.
Re:New Gillette Robo-Shave (Score:1)
Personally, I've never really understood male shaving, unless you think you're a woman trapped in a man's body or something.
A clean chinned man is nearly as much of an oddity as a bearded lady (racial characteristics not withstanding). It's one of our more bizarre fashions (and that's all it is, fashion).
It makes about as much sense as men wearing prosthetic breasts or padding their hips.
KFG
Re:New Gillette Robo-Shave (Score:4, Funny)
Re:New Gillette Robo-Shave (Score:1)
Keeping them clean and neatly trimmed I understand perfectly. "Dapper" is one of the words not uncommonly used to describe me.
However, I don't understand removing them.
KFG
Re:New Gillette Robo-Shave (Score:1)
Re:New Gillette Robo-Shave (Score:1)
It's vanity.
KFG
Re:New Gillette Robo-Shave (Score:3, Funny)
For instance, there are a large group (*gasp*) of people who shave all of the hair around their genitals. Crazy! So either they're rushing, on a swim team, or perverts, right?
Try it once or twice.
What's with the Piquepaille posts? (Score:5, Interesting)
Anyway, what is the robot ability up to now?
* Has skin
* Eats flies [slashdot.org]
* Can transform into other robots [slashdot.org]
* Walks on water [slashdot.org]
It sounds like the plans are coming together nicely for overlord robots.
Re:What's with the Piquepaille posts? (Score:1)
I am skeptical this technology will ever actually take off in carpets like the article suggests. Who would want to have their carpet tell them they were a fatass every time they got up to walk around?
Re:What's with the Piquepaille posts? (Score:2)
Or, worse yet, your carpet informs you that the "hot chic" you slept with last night (who was brought home via 'beer goggles') was much heavier than you (many beers and several shots of peppermint Schnapp's later) had thought...
Of course this is NOT from personal experience... despite what my so-called "frie
Re:What's with the Piquepaille posts? (Score:1, Troll)
I think you are trolling. I wish I had mod points to mod you down. Nice tactic to get your gripe against Roland thru, by adding some links, and getting a +5 Interesting. Way to go moderators.
It seems that you posted other posts [slashdot.org] as well again Roland Piquepaille, as an AC.
You have a point that Roland gets more air time here on Slashdot than most.
But he does not plagiarize any more than any news site who relies on various news sources. He collects the info and provides links to the source with some c
Re:What's with the Piquepaille posts? (Score:1, Insightful)
slashdot links to the original articles where possible, they dont copy and paste them here as articles cos if they did they would get their asses sued into oblivion, copyright does apply to writings and photographs especially when exploiting content for commercial gain
Re:What's with the Piquepaille posts? (Score:1, Insightful)
As for the other posts, I didn't make them. If I wanted to post something like that, I would have put it in my original post rather than make separate posts. No doubt you are aware that more than one person can post as AC. I fail to see what's so bad if I was responsible for posting them though.
You are right in saying that he doesn't plagiarise more than any news site; I used the wrong word mistakenly - plagiarism is when you claim the article to
Re:What's with the Piquepaille posts? (Score:3, Insightful)
I have been known to make a few anti-Roland posts in the past. When I first started paying attention to Roland's posts, I couldn't understand why many people hated him, either. But, now, I understand why. On one hand, Maybe part of it is overexposure. However, I think more of it has to do with his neverending spam and questionable approach to copyright law.
If you look here [trnmag.com], you will see the T's & C's for using information from the source of Roland's story. If you read the fine print, you will see
Re:What's with the Piquepaille posts? (Score:2)
After reading another post, I realize that I am guilty of misusing the term plagiarize. Roland does not plagiarize, but he appears to be guilty of some copyright infringement.
Re:What's with the Piquepaille posts? (Score:2)
Aggregation by itself is valuable. Google News is only an aggregation service. With both of them, I learn about stuff I'd probably never stumble across on my own.
The ads are clearly identifiable as such, you're not being deceived and you don't need to click on them.
Deeper insight would be nice, esecially from somebody who's got his eye on things. But I'm inclined to cut the guy some slack.
Re:What's with the Piquepaille posts? (Score:2)
True. After all, isn't Slashdot an aggretation service? And, I find it to be valuable. However, note that Roland has a tendency to link to his blog. He points you to his blog and from there, you can link to the source. When submitting an ariticle to Slashdot, why doesn't Roland point most, or, better yet, ALL of his links to the source?
In bo
Re:What's with the Piquepaille posts? (Score:2)
Re:What's with the Piquepaille posts? (Score:2)
Sigh! Moronic moderators...
How is this a troll?
I noticed what appears as a coordinated attack on Roland, and stood up and defended the guy. Not that I like him (I neither like nor dislike him), but because these attacks seem unwarranted, and all by Anonymous Cowards.
Re:What's with the Piquepaille posts? (Score:2)
Didn't you watch The Matrix? We still have the good ole fashion trusty EMP SHOCKWAVE!
That'd pawn the asses of our robot overlords good!
Cool (Score:1)
I wonder if having a harem sex-bots will be considered immoral
Support Free Trade Campus [freetradecampus.org]
get a free account Now!
Re:Cool (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Cool (Score:1)
Yes.
That won't, however, prevent them from also being quite popular and common. People will indulge their "base" instincts, even the people who consider it immoral.
It reminds me of an old Playboy cartoon. It shows a bunch of Puritans going to meeting and all the women (of every age) have large, red As on their backs. One guy is saying to another, "Well, it was a long winter."
The problem, of course, is that the people who consider it immoral
Re:Cool (Score:2)
FSVO "immoral" approaching "expensive as all hell." So you'll have to be a CEO, RIAA/MPAA exec, or Politician to afford one.
Yep, fsck morality.
Complaining Robots (Score:3, Informative)
I think you ought to know I'm feeling very depressed, and my leg hurts too.
Best opening sentence ever? (Score:1)
I remember writing a term paper that began this way.
Eeew I can see it now (Score:5, Funny)
Joey: But Maaa!
Back Seat:
I for one (Score:4, Funny)
Seriously, that picture kinda creeps me out.
Article repost and image (Score:2, Informative)
Flexible Sensors Make Robot Skin [weblogs.com]
In recent years, lots of efforts have been made to give robots the ability to hear and see. But what about the sense of touch? Unlike us, robots don't have sensitive skin. But this is about to change. By using organic, or plastic, field-effect transistors as pressure sensors deposited on a flexible material, researchers at the University of Tokyo have created an artificial skin which will give robots th [trnmag.com]
Re:Article repost and image (Score:1)
If the robot doesn't behave.... (Score:1, Funny)
--
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did anyone else read that as.. (Score:2)
More details and a picture of a robotic hand using orgasmic transistors as pressure sensors.
GelForce (Score:2)
This looks to be a bit more advanced and a lot more expensive (than GelForce), but nonetheless, there are other people who have been creating these materials with the same applications.
Good stuff... (Score:3, Interesting)
It looks like the first in a long series of hurdles may just about be cleared.
There are also numerous industrial/scientific/sporting applications for something like this...imagine having NFL sidelines undercoated with this stuff...no more debate or bad vision angles....he was in or he was out. Or what about measuring even more precisely the impact at each discreet point on a runners feet? Or the force of a boxer's punch? Or the accuracy of a baseball bat or golf club as it comes into contact with the ball?
Cool stuff.
This Isn't New (Score:2, Interesting)
Haven't hered anything about it in the last 2-3 years, but Yea
Sex Dolls and Slashdot (Score:1)
yeah, right! (Score:1)
Most of that is redundant. I'd like to see you sense 1500 independent locations within a sq cm of your fingertips. I bet you'd have difficulty with 16. Where's that number from anyway? I wouldn't be surprised if its wrong anyway. Nerve endings, maybe, but not all of those are for touch, some are for temperature and probably other things.
Still, some of those extra pressure senstive nerve endings would b
Re:yeah, right! (Score:3, Informative)
Low threshold mechanoreceptors, of two different types, each have about 1/mm2 density in the fingertip, or about 100/sq cm. These two types are different in temporal sensitivity and dynamic range, but allow sensation of skin deflections from a few microns to a few millimeters - roughly three orders of magnitude range.
16 will not allow a reasonable assessment of surface texture. It will no
no..... (Score:1)
holyshit, the robot wants to feel my ass...wonder if they can also detect farts...
I can think of one application (Score:2)
from my blog... (Score:3, Interesting)
My post on this topic is here [blogspot.com] and below.
Flexible sensors make robot skin. [trnmag.com] This could have a number of applications. The first two I imagine are a richer interface between machines and humans and advanced manipulation.
If cheap enough, the machine can understand the precise location and posture of a human. Mentioned in the article are car seats. Imagine a bed which adjusted itself to minimize pressure points.
I should mention a project [u-tokyo.ac.jp]out of CMU by Chris Atkeson and Daniel Wilson [cmu.edu], where he put only a few cheap accelerometers in the floorboard of a house. The algorithm processing these sensors could localize humans in the rooms with remarkable accuracy. The challenge then becomes sensor fusion and system integration, in using this information to boost performance of the entire system. For instance, a human tracker using vision alone would be dwarfed by such a system which had a reasonable seed guess from pressure sensors.
The second application is for rich manipulation. A robot grasping a glass must do so with enough pressure to not drop it, but also enough sensitivity to not break it. I doubt humans use significant higher reasoning in this process, unlike the advantage humans have over computer vision programs. Rather, robots could sense the weight fairly easily, but also the type of surface, and learn how brittle such a surface is.
Re:from my blog... Starship Troopers. (Score:1)
Woo-Hoo!! One more step towards my robo-suit!
Just a random snippet of memory from a cool book
Oh yeah, greeeeat... (Score:3, Funny)
Car Seat: You seem to have put on a bit of weight mam.
Driver: I have not, how dare you.
Car Seat: And, if I feel correctly you... yup, oh yeah, over there, feel that... you've got some cellulite on your thighs too.
Driver: My god! I never!
Car Seat: I feel you are now tensing your buttocks madam...
Why this is not going to help much + a better way (Score:5, Interesting)
It's not the sensors or the density or how long they last or their accuracy or anything like that, even though these are real problems. The big killer problem is wiring. You get all these signals and at some point you need to get the wiring over joints that have to bend a real lot. And the more sensors you have the wires your typically going to have. Eventually you end up with bundles of wires and the simple fact is bundles of wires do not like being bent repeatedly, apart from which fingers need to be skinny to be useful and this is at odds with fat bundles of wires.
One solution however is physically simple and was presented at a National robotics conference in Australia in 1990. In summary I proposed and had made a working 2D slice of finger that used only 4 sensors. A 3D finger tip would require about 9 sensors, and by finger tip I mean measuring the major contact, magnitude and direction anywhere beyond the joint. The method was based on normal engineering and had the 4 sensors buried into a compliant skin. An external force caused a reading on all 4 strain gauges. From this small amount of data a PC worked out the magnitude, position and direction of the applied force using data collected from earlier testing. As a 2D finger slice it could successfully follow an edge when attached to a robot arm. I can scan and email the paper (this was pre net days) if any researchers want to extend this work and come up with practical robotic fingers. Email me.
Another solution is to put the smarts into the skin so only a "summary" signal needs to go back through the various joints. This couldn't be done in the 80's but could be now?
Re:Why this is not going to help much + a better w (Score:1)
Re:Why this is not going to help much + a better w (Score:1)
And using a matrix skin without local processing is st
Re:Why this is not going to help much + a better w (Score:4, Informative)
It should be feasible to make integrated silicon strain gauge/amplifier/interface chips, embed them in a flexible printed circuit, and laminate them into a skin-like laminate with appropriate tough, soft, and hard layers. But the processes involved are all high-volume ones - it's hard to do this economically in small volume. And there's no market for a process that turns out big rolls of this stuff.
There's a lot of stuff in robotics that's like that. Linear motors and laser scanners both cost about 20x what they should. because the volume is tiny. Even basic servomotos and servo amps cost 5x as much as they should, based on parts cost.
It's getting better, though. More and more parts needed in robotics are becoming off the shelf. I run a DARPA Grand Challenge team [overbot.com], and over the last year, many of the components you need for that have become far more available.
Same approach, different technology, 25 years ago (Score:3, Interesting)
I can't find any specific references to it on the web, only some in passing. If I remember he used pantyhose to separate two conductive layers...
master luke! (Score:1)
Woah! (Score:2)
LS
Great for the "disabled" (Score:1)
I can only imagine it like having sight and hearing for the first time, but far greater than that.
Sense of touch, someones been watching too.. (Score:3, Insightful)
Obligatory Simpsons quote (Score:1, Funny)
Second skin (Score:2)
Re:Second skin (Score:2)
robotics progress sooooo slow (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:robotics progress sooooo slow (Score:2)
(Maybe you should read one of the innumerable books describing how this is a NOT EASY problem)
Re:robotics progress sooooo slow (Score:2)
Finally! Anti-Ninja surfaces! Affair Detectors! (Score:4, Funny)
After decades of research, there is now the technology to defeat those wall clinging, ceiling hiding, floor light-footing ninjas!(and web slingers, kung fu masters, ballerinas, etc).
Just apply the new "feel it" intelligent surface film to every surface inside and outside of your home!
Know instantly by pattern recognition and fuzzy logic, when your loved one is cheating on you and know exactly on what table, floor, wall, or patio! You will know the exact time(s) and how many times your loved one has gotton the good vibration from your neighbor, your cook, your best friend... all this data can then be converted to full motion, surround sound video footage for personal review, use in court, and on a variety of daytime talk shows. (Video footage generation available when using "Feel It" intelligent films with "See It" intelligent films. Please consult your local informational technology contractor for proper installation procedures!)
Know when that den of roaches comes out for their nightly snack attack on your pet's food and your early morning english muffins!
Know when expensive vat grown ninjas are clamboring into your home to assasinate you for pissing off the wrong multi-national artificial intelligence!
All this can be yours if you are willing to apply the new "feel it" intelligent surface sheets to each and every possible surface in your home.
Coming Soon!
"Know It" intelligent pleasure film for when you want to know who's faking it! Designed to carefully measure pressure, moisture, and hormones, this new wave technological material not only protects you from STD's, but also from fake orgasms, recurring genital warts, another lover's fluids, etc.... (note: use of "Know It" intelligent pleasure film may not be legal to use in all states. Please consult your local laws before purchase and/or use!)
yeah, oh, great (Score:2)
So what's the next step ?
Linux sexbot (Score:1, Funny)
If your name is Roland, the message is clear (Score:1, Funny)
Re:How new is this? (Score:2)
It surely just shows my ignorance, but...
Re:How new is this? (Score:1)
Second, you can register contact at more than one point at a time. Most touchpads use an XY coordinate system for determining the point where the pad is touched; if you have more than one active row or column region, you no longer know for certain which, or even how many, points are making contact.
Re:How new is this? (Score:2)
also, you can detect the pressure (and apparently more than on/off?) in multiple locations(iirc there's touchpads like that for pc usage too, but the usual one's can just detect 1 point).
Re:Anyone recommend a better site? (Score:2)
Re:Anyone recommend a better site? (Score:2)
Re:So are fingertips the most sensitive body part? (Score:2, Interesting)
KFG