[Robotic] skins enable users to design their own robotic systems. Although the skins are designed with no specific task in mind, Kramer-Bottiglio said, they could be used for everything from search-and-rescue robots to wearable technologies. The results of the team's work are published today in Science Robotics [DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.aat1853] [DX].
The skins are made from elastic sheets embedded with sensors and actuators developed in Kramer-Bottiglio's lab. Placed on a deformable object — a stuffed animal or a foam tube, for instance — the skins animate these objects from their surfaces. The makeshift robots can perform different tasks depending on the properties of the soft objects and how the skins are applied. [...] Robots are typically built with a single purpose in mind. The robotic skins, however, allow users to create multi-functional robots on the fly. That means they can be used in settings that hadn't even been considered when they were designed, said Kramer-Bottiglio.
The robotic skin you had carry your coffee cup to you can now be used for... other things.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 22 2018, @02:02AM (1 child)
Ok, who modded that interesting and not funny? I've got some body pillows you might be interested in ;-)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 22 2018, @03:59AM
No thanks; got my own. :D