Stretchable e-skin for robots is being developed by Japanese researchers who apparently hate being touched by traditional rigid, metallicky robots.
This new technology is flexible like rubber but has conductivity that is 570 times higher. It should be possible to make elastic integrated circuits that can stretch up to 1.7 times their original size.
Non-robotic uses include steering wheel covers; the sensors could judge perspiration, body temperature and other factors to see if you are fit to drive.
The researchers hope to bring the material into production within the next several years.
One application of the material would be artificial skin on robots, said Tsuyoshi Sekitani, a research associate in the team.
"As robots enter our everyday life, they need to have sensors everywhere on their bodies like humans," he told AFP.
"Imagine they bump into babies. Robots need to feel temperatures, heat and pressure like we do to co-exist. Otherwise it would be dangerous," he said.
One sf robot that could demonstrate how pressure-sensitive skin could be used was Rolem the wrestling robot from This Immortal, a classic Roger Zelazny novel. An exquisite appreciation of force across wide surface areas would be needed to make sure a wrestling robot did not damage its user.
Do We Still Need Orbiting Factories?
'... his contract with Space Industries required him to work summers in their orbital factory complex.' - Jerry Pournelle, 1976.
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Illustrating Classic Heinlein With AI
'Stasis, cold sleep, hibernation, hypothermia, reduced metabolism, call it what you will - the logistics-medicine research teams had found a way to stack people like cordwood and use them when needed.'
Deflector Plasma Screen For Drones ala Star Wars
'If the enemy persists in attacking or even intensifies their power, the density of the plasma in space will suddenly increase, causing it to reflect most of the incoming energy like a mirror.'