Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Electrolocation Robotic Hand Has PreTouch
Take a look at this robotic hand using electrolocation (also called electroreception) to figure out the position of the object to be grasped. It's what an electric eel would design - if an electric eel could grasp the concept of fingers and thumbs.
(Video of robotic hand electrolocation)
The thing that I find most amazing about this robotic hand is that it succeeds so well using a means of perception that is alien to human beings.
The robotic hand described above has what you might call an active electrolocation sense. The tips of its fingers emit weak electrical impulses that objects interfere with; this provides the hand with enough information to grasp the object. Certain fish have a natural version of this; the fish generates a weak electric field and then uses electroreceptor organs to detect distortions in the field. Aquatic creatures do it better because water is a better conductor than the medium we live in (air).
Most robots struggle with machine vision, the same sense that we humans use effortlessly to find objects and grasp them. This robotic hand uses a different sense - and succeeds amazingly well.
The Intel researchers who created the electrolocation robotic hand call this ability "PreTouch."
I don't have a direct sfnal precursor for this idea, but consider the early reference to a robotic hand that uses touch feedback in Robert Heinlein's 1956 story The Door Into Summer.
Hands I could order from the atomics-engineering equipment companies who supplied Hired Girl's hands, only this time I would want the best, with wide-range servos and with the delicate feedback required for microanalysis manipulations and for weighing radioactive isotopes...The ears I could buy from any of a dozen radio-TV houses - though I might have to do some circuit designing to have his hands controlled simultaneously by sight, sound, and touch feedback the way the human hand is controlled.
(Read more about Heinlein's robotic hands)
I also note in passing that "pretouch" goes well with the phildickian ideas of precrime and prethink.
Here is a fistful of mechanical hands for you to grasp.
- Robotic Hands Get A Grip
Blue collar droids get their wish this Christmas - better hands! - Biological Cybernetics Lab Dextrous Robot Hand
Very quick to respond, the only difference is the 'clacking' sound it made when it gestured. - Remote-Controlled Robotic Hand Performs Breast Exams
A remote-controlled robotic hand will soon enable medical specialists to examine women from anywhere in the world. - TerminatorBot CRAWLER Gives Danger Two-Fingered Salute
A rescue robot modeled on the movie Terminator. - Southampton Remedi Hand Beats Hollywood
Better than Hollywood special effects, it provides more degrees of freedom and advanced feedback control.
Via Robotic Hand Uses Shark-like "Sixth Sense" to Find Its Grip.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 6/12/2008)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")
Golf Ball Test Robot Wears Them Out
"The robot solemnly hit a ball against the wall, picked it up and teed it, hit it again, over and again...' - Frederik Poh, 1954.
PaXini Supersensitive Robot Fingers
'My fingers are not that sensitive...' - Ray Cummings, 1931.
Artificial Skin For Robots Is Coming Right Along
'... an elastic, tinted material that had all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.' - Harl Vincent (1934)
Robot Guard Dog On Duty
I might also be thinking of K-9 from Doctor Who.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Golf Ball Test Robot Wears Them Out
"The robot solemnly hit a ball against the wall, picked it up and teed it, hit it again, over and again...'
Boring Company Vegas Loop Like Asimov Said
'There was a wall ahead... It was riddled with holes that were the mouths of tunnels.'
Rigid Metallic Clothing From Science Fiction To You
'...support the interior human structure against Jupiter’s pull.'
Is The Seattle Ultrasonics C-200 A Heinlein Vibroblade?
'It ain't a vibroblade. It's steel. Messy.'
Roborock Saros Z70 Is A Robot Vacuum With An Arm
'Anything larger than a BB shot it picked up and placed in a tray...'
A Beautiful Visualization Of Compact Food
'The German chemists have discovered how to supply the needed elements in compact, undiluted form...'
Bone-Building Drug Evenity Approved
'Compounds devised by the biochemists for the rapid building of bone...'
Secret Kill Switch Found In Yutong Buses
'The car faltered as the external command came to brake...'
Inmotion Electric Unicycle In Combat
'It is about the size and shape of a kitchen stool, gyro-stabilized...'
Grok Scores Best In Psychological Tests
'Try to find out how he ticks...'
PaXini Supersensitive Robot Fingers
'My fingers are not that sensitive...'
Congress Considers Automatic Emergency Braking, One Hundred Years Too Late
'The greatest problem of all was the elimination of the human element of braking together with its inevitable time lag.'
The Desert Ship Sailed In Imagination
'Across the ancient sea floor a dozen tall, blue-sailed Martian sand ships floated, like blue smoke.'
The Zapata Air Scooter Would Be Great In A Science Fiction Story
'Betty's slapdash style.'
Thermostabilized Wet Meat Product (NASA Prototype)
There are no orbiting Michelin stars. Yet.
Could Crystal Batteries Generate Power For Centuries?
'Power could be compressed thus into an inch-square cube of what looked like blue-white ice'
