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Artificial skin can detect nearby objects without even touching them
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A skin crafted from two layers of electrodes around an ion-infused sponge is better at sensing than human skin because it can detect nearby objects and what they are made of
Technology
25 January 2023
By Chris Stokel-Walker
Human skin is sensitive, but an artificial skin might be even better
Shutterstock/daily_creativity
An artificial skin is even better than human skin at sensing objects, because it can detect and identify items that it hasn’t touched yet.
“Human skin has to touch something to tell it what is there,” says Yifan Wang at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. “Human skin can only tell the softness or hardness of an object. We wanted our artificial skin to have more functions.”
Even without touching an object, Wang and his colleagues’ artificial skin can sense if it is close by and can also discern some clues about the type of material it is made of. “We can tell whether it’s a piece of metal, plastic… or some biological material,” he says.
The skin is made up of two outer layers of conductive fabric coated with nickel to serve as electrodes. These surround a porous sponge soaked in ionic liquid, which is a salt in a liquid state that acts as a conduit for electricity. The two layers act as a capacitor, storing electrical energy in an electric field.
The artificial skin being used on a robotic hand to detect – from a distance – that this copper tape is metal
Wang, H. L et al. Small, DOI: 10.1002/smll.202206830
The ions in the sponge boost the performance of the capacitor, which effectively measures how much the distance between the two layers of electrodes changes. That ability to detect tiny shifts is behind how the artificial skin is able to detect that it has touched something.
The sensing performance of the capacitor, which Wang claims is between 10 and 100 times more sensitive than a standard capacitor, means it is also able to detect very small changes in the electric field around the skin, allowing it to sense when objects are near. What’s more, those subtle changes can help it identify what type of material a nearby object is made of.
In tests, the skin managed to detect and successful classify a series of objects brought near it as being either polymer, metal or skin, indicated by specific changes in the capacitor’s measurements.
“The process is relatively simple. As the component comes close to contact, it enters the edges of the electric field of the capacitive structure,” says Jonathan Aitken at the University of Sheffield, UK. “There are several interesting future routes,” he says, but at present the skin relies on machine learning techniques to identify how the object it detects compares with data on known materials.
Wang thinks the skin could work on a robotic finger to allow factory robots to better understand which objects to pick up and which to leave without having to grasp them, as well as being useful for prostheses.
Believe it or not, a Christmas tree won't stay upright on its own. Instead, you need a stable Christmas tree stand that can accommodate the type and size of tree you have. We researched dozens of the best Christmas tree stands to help you find the right one for your needs, whether you have a real tree, an artificial tree, a small tree, or a behemoth. The stands in our guide have a track record of durability, performance, and easy setup. We also outline the size and type of tree each stand is meant for. Check out our guide to the best Christmas tree skirts once you've chosen the right stand for your tree. The best Christmas tree stands in 2022 Best Christmas tree stand overall: Krinner Tree Genie Christmas Tree Stand, available at Amazon, $82.79 The German-engineered Krinner Tree Genie Christmas Tree Stand is easy to set up in a couple of minutes and keeps trees up to 12 f...
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