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Robotics Science

Japanese Researchers Develop Sensor Skin 106

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the right-touch dept.
ScentCone writes "A University of Tokyo team has developed a flexible, laminated network of pressure and temperature sensors suitable for jobs such as robot fingers. Circuits as pressure sensors, and semiconductors as temperature sensors are not new, but the thin, networked laminate of the two is novel."
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Japanese Researchers Develop Sensor Skin More

Japanese Researchers Develop Sensor Skin

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  • As always... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 16, 2005 @02:30AM (#13328473)
    the porn industry will be the first to widely use this new technology.

  • Great! (Score:2, Funny)

    by Darkon ( 206829 )

    Maybe now they can build better hands for their female android [bbc.co.uk].
    • I'm thinking there are other areas of a female android that could use this technology too.

  • Prosthetics (Score:4, Funny)

    by irokie ( 697424 ) on Tuesday August 16, 2005 @02:39AM (#13328498) Homepage
    I wonder could this be adapted and built into prosthetics somehow? And if you combine it with some sort of ultra-thin LCD...

    I, for one, welcome our new robo-skinned, chameleon overlords...

  • Finally... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Chatsubo ( 807023 ) on Tuesday August 16, 2005 @02:41AM (#13328505)
    Robots so far haven't been the best looking things, as their inventors rarely see a need to cover them up with "skin" or something that looks vaguely aesthetic.

    So maybe this will make new robots resemble something a bit more organic, by, say, colouring this stuff to look like human skin. I think this would go a long way in making them more appealing to the public.

    • Re:Finally... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by JanneM ( 7445 ) on Tuesday August 16, 2005 @02:44AM (#13328515) Homepage
      Robots so far haven't been the best looking things, as their inventors rarely see a need to cover them up with "skin" or something that looks vaguely aesthetic.

      Look up "uncanny valley" before you wish too much. Nonorganic, toy-looking is probably a lot better.
      • like say this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_Valley [wikipedia.org]

        hmm, im not sure i agree with the articles arguments that the uncanny valley effect was the reason the final fantasy movie bombed.

        most people i know that have seen it loved it, with no talk about feeling uneasy about the lifelikeness of the characters.

        i think its more that it didnt realy play out the final fantasy name. basicly it didnt follow up on any of the FF games story, the most likely one being FF7 from playstation 1: the one most people had t
        • ...still, there is a short movie in the works that expand on the FF7 history now i think: FF7, midnight children...

          Advent Children, I believe.

          Hope be with ye,
          Cyan

        • hmm, im not sure i agree with the articles arguments that the uncanny valley effect was the reason the final fantasy movie bombed.

          No, the reason that FF movie bombed was that the plot was awful, completely unlike the games and not the least bit credible.

          Every FF I've played (6,7,8 & 9) have had the basic structure of adventuring, meeting weird people and seeing weird places while trying to foil the plans of a murdering madman bent on conquering/destroying the world (possibly as a side effect of hi

          • hmm, freedom force. incredibly nice game. even more so when you get the update installed that give you access to the danger room system.

            nothing like creating the most maxed out explosive power you can come up with and then trow it around ;)

            or maybe picking up a car or similar and tossing it at your enemy.

            but the best is when you trash a building just to get hold of the wimp with jump or climbing that have taken refuge there.

            hulk smash!

            hmm, to bad realy that they didnt add a swing power. but i guess then tha
          • The one thing I noticed that bugged me about the graphics in the FF movie was the booze. It didnt look at all like alcohol. I've noticed that very few people can come up with convincing-looking water, either trying to make it too opaque, or making it too viscous and not fluid enough.

    • Re:Finally... (Score:4, Informative)

      by manavendra ( 688020 ) on Tuesday August 16, 2005 @03:26AM (#13328623) Homepage Journal
      Its not just about making them more "appealing" to the public.

      This new "fabric" laminates the pressure and temperature sensing network together, so that both properties can be detected simultaneously, using carbon based circuits and semi-conductors, which is inexpensive to reproduce

      This would allow the scientists to measure more easily (if not more accurately), the effects a certain task would have were it performed by a human, the side effects certain working conditions may have (kind of prevention before cure), and in future they could add more sensors on these layers to measure other aspects (for example, radioactivity)..
    • making a robot look more human still doesnt make it look completely human. especially since itll probaly only look human enough to be creepy. kinda like the computer rendered movies like Final Fantasy... sure it looks real-ish... but the characters are still somewhat lifeless.

  • Key invent (Score:2, Insightful)

    by MrJones ( 4691 )
    Since robot muscles are solved, this seems to be the key feature for future robots.
    I always wonder how will the robots detects presure at skin level ... Eureka!

    • Re:Key invent (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Jaruzel ( 804522 )
      Ah, but would you restrict the sensors to just fingers/hands/feet, or go for the whole 'body' ?

      To be useful, covering the whole body would require millions of sensors, and somewhat impractical to implement and process.

      I agree with earlier poster, the best use for this, is in prosthetics. We already have artificial limbs that can be 'moved' via crude nerve interfaces, add this on and the limb becomes a lot more useful. Much more usful than a Honda-bot that can pick up an egg without breaking it.

      -Jar.

      • Re:Key invent (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Mycroft_VIII ( 572950 ) on Tuesday August 16, 2005 @03:09AM (#13328581) Journal
        Actually I think there might be a way to handle so many sensors.
            for every few hundred or so have a very simple processor that just looks for sensors that need attention (nearing temp/pressure boundries, changing enough to warrent attention, ect.) then when something happens it sends a simple message upstream to a more important processor (HEY sensor #252 is getting hot fast!) that processor then converts the info from it's subs into more general info for the main system and passes it on (LEFT HAND MELTING!). Of course the higher processors should be able to set alert criterion for lower processors and even query for specifics, but outside of the main system focusing it's attention it mostly just processes simple all o.k. messages from a small handfull of surface sensor agregators.
            I know I'm rarely aware of more than a general sense of to what degree I'm comfortable unless I specifically focus such as when testing the water temp in the shower or when accidently stub a toe.

        Mycroft
        • Replace "processor" with "neuron" and I think you've pretty much described the nervous system (the sensory side of it at least). Sounds like you're on the right track.

          • Re:Key invent (Score:3, Interesting)

            by Mycroft_VIII ( 572950 )
            Heh, yeah I've thought about this a bit. Two of my fantasy mad scientis inventions are an android and Power armor, which share some of these problems. The other is a time machine.
            It's a bit related to subsumption architechture in robotics, thought I didn't originaly think of it that way and intend to study more on that subject. It's just obvious to me that semi-independant semi-hiarchical controll/processing is the way to do it rather than try and do it all as one big cpu and software. Espe
        • Wouldn't a better way to avoid damage be to allow the processors closest to the sensor to quickly evaluate if it was being damaged and if so pull back the hand or whatever part without direct control from the main system? Sort of like when you're getting burned and you pull back before you even realize you were burned.
          • The human body already does something like this. If you touch a really hot object (say red hot metal) the way past limit signal hits the spinal cord and sets off a the pull-back reflex signal to the muscles even as the signal is being sent to the brain.
            And yes having a fairly low level processors (say l2) be normally set to act on it's own initiative unless a higher level overides might make sense. Given that for such tasks and signals the system would likely be much faster than human nervou
        • The key here should be reaction to changes...

          Sensor registers a change in pressure or temperature, passes it up the line. Simultaneous changes amongst several sensors should be sent to higher levels, those with highest magnitude of change or threatening acceptable thresholds given highest priority. Above threshold signals could be fast-tracked to a release actuator's processor like a pain reflex, which could then make the decision to "bear with the pain" or "let go", depending on how important the burde

      • To be useful, covering the whole body would require millions of sensors, and somewhat impractical to implement and process.

        bollocks... ever hear of neural nets??? what the heck do you think we use in our own bodies then??? I would envisage each net handling a square centimetre or so of pseudo skin and overlapping with other nearby nets before passing the results on to higher nets that handle whole limbs, etc...

    • Re:Key invent (Score:3, Informative)

      by RealNecator ( 554054 )
      Since robot muscles are solved, this seems to be the key feature for future robots.

      Robotic musceles are solved? Thats new to me.

      They are far, far away from being "solved". Atrificial muscels (made of fibers) are energy inefficient and bulky. DC-Motors are bulky and heavy, yet better in efficiancy still not good enough.

      Take forexample a human Hand: What do you think, how many muscles (=motors) do we have? And thats only the motors ... strings, wires, powersupply adds.

      And for the article: Its nice th

      • Re:Key invent (Score:4, Interesting)

        by Mycroft_VIII ( 572950 ) on Tuesday August 16, 2005 @03:27AM (#13328626) Journal
        Mostly I agree, however I would like to point out that not all the components for a funtional finger need to be in the finger itself. Make tight fist while watching the fore-arm on the same arm.
            Same could go for some of the electronics related to sensor amplification and such.
            Though I do agree we are still a good ways from human equalivance in artificial muscles and skin sensors.

        Mcyroft

      • I think the problem here is that we have the wrong people looking at the job. We have robotics engineers working on simulating natural muscles, and all sorts of technologists working in widely diverse fields, learning as they go. They should get the past masters of the field working on it, the engineers from Makita and John Deere, power tools and garden machinery experts. Also robots with chainsaws would be kinda cool.

  • I for one welcome... (Score:4, Funny)

    by threaded ( 89367 ) on Tuesday August 16, 2005 @03:14AM (#13328595) Homepage
    I for one welcome our new touchy feely overlords.

  • the ultimate nerd quest (Score:5, Funny)

    by pchan- ( 118053 ) on Tuesday August 16, 2005 @03:15AM (#13328598) Journal
    Say what you will, the Japanese have picked up the gauntlet to the biggest nerd challenge of all, getting a girlfriend. They're going to build her, they have the technology. She will be stronger, faster, better! Like an Aibo, she will always be happy to see you. She will be soft and smooth and react to touch due to this skin. She will walk upright like a QRIO or Asimo, be able to perform complex pre-programmed moves. She will have a mute button.

    The future is here. Domestic girlfriends are fuel efficient and reliable ...in Japan!
  • In other news tonight it was announced that Americans have now developed the capacity to think.

    Both are mere reinventions, evolution created those features by accident millions of years ago.

    Oh you mean artificial sensitive skin?
  • It's cool and all, but why are the Japanese so hell bent on building robots? I understand they are concerned about the drop in the labor force due to lower birth rates, but do they hate immigrants that much? The chinese and koreans are nice folks :)

    As for the cute android - well, if I was Japanese, I think I'd rather date a real gal from Shanghai than than that thing :)

    • The Japanese have the weirdest social deseases of the world because of the current social structure. Having a robotic girlfriend will not turn too many heads I guess.

      Ok, the west scores pretty good with social desease too, but they are a lot less tech oriented than the Japanese, so if you live with your robotic friend in the west, it will make you a complete social outcast for sure.

    • but do they hate immigrants that much?

      Yes, they do. Minorities in Japan [wikipedia.org]

      The chinese and koreans are nice folks :)

      Thank you, but I know I speak for most Koreans (and some Chinese, but there are too many to speak for) when I say we will never, ever work for the Japanese voluntarily. (at least those of us who remember this [wikipedia.org] and these [wikipedia.org].)

      • I am a minority in Japan, and find my current working conditions more than accommodating. Things change. We're not at war anymore. We haven't been for almost 50 years. How old are you, that you can remember all that?

        The Chinese have also done horrendous things in their 5,000-year history (to pretty much everybody, and the only thing that stopped them from doing it to Japan was a bit of water and bad weather.) Speaking of Korea, do you also remember this [wikipedia.org]? For sheer nastiness, the only thing Koreans hav
    • "but do they hate immigrants that much?"

      Yes.

      The relatively lax immigration policies of what some call the anglosphere countries (especially the US and Canada) tend to be the exception rather than the norm when it comes to national attidudes towards immigration (and, yes, I am taking into account the current US attitude towards immigration from Mexico). Japan is perhaps more xenophobic than most, but I'm not comfortable calling it an extreme position.

      "The chinese and koreans are nice folks :)"

      In this partic

    • They need something to combat Godzilla.
  • I guess this is a beowolf cluster of pressure and temperature sensors.

    Actually, this stuff looks pretty neat. It could easily be adapted for security uses too, I'm sure.
  • I, for one, welcome our new sensitive-fingered dominae.

  • Sure, just what I need... (Score:3, Funny)

    by PornMaster ( 749461 ) on Tuesday August 16, 2005 @04:37AM (#13328790) Homepage
    Do I really need to hear from my girlfriend that her robot is more sensitive than I am?

  • it was there already (Score:2, Interesting)

    by jaromil ( 104349 ) *
    at least something very similar to it, and patented by Sony: www.csl.sony.co.jp/person/rekimoto/smartskin [sony.co.jp] BTW one of the developers of smartskin is the author of effectv.sf.net [sf.net] i'd rather add that slashdot news are getting lousier every day, please keep it up.

  • next up... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by hitmark ( 640295 ) on Tuesday August 16, 2005 @05:12AM (#13328867) Journal
    direct neural interface. basicly a chip that allow the sensors to talk to someones neural system so that one feel the pressure as if it was ones own skin.

    that in my view is realy the holy grail here. to get the feedback loop that is our interaction with the world going while using something thats not flesh.

  • Yes!!! (Score:1)

    by Sibb ( 907810 )
    No my computer can FEEL the love I have for it... ahhhh....

  • Uncanny valley (Score:2, Informative)

    by jackcarter ( 884148 )
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley [wikipedia.org]

    I think that, if nothing else, a very realistic robot will be a good test to see if the uncanny valley actually exists.

  • Pleasure? (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    If you entirely cover the robot with this "skin," will the resulting load of sensor inputs require a type of brain structure that could lead to behaviors purely focused on the sensor input--including "pleasure"?

    Addict robots, pervert robots, killer robots. With these one could automate the entire Republican Party!
  • "It will be possible in the near future to make an electronic skin that has functions that human skin lacks," the researchers write in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

    Future artificial skins could incorporate sensors not only for pressure and temperature, but also for light, humidity, strain or sound, they add.

    Huh, last time I checked my skin can detect light, humidity, strain and sound fluctuations. When I'm more relaxed, I actually have a fairly broad range of sensitivity.

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