Tactile robot finger outperforms humans in identifying textures
via gizmag:
The finger-sized BioTac sensor (by SynTouch LLC, USC) consists of a soft, flexible skin covering a liquid filling. The skin even has fingerprints that enhance the sensor’s sensitivity to vibration, so that as the sensor slides over a textured surface, it vibrates in characteristic ways. A microphone designed to be used underwater – known as a hydrophone – located within the sensor’s bone-like core detects these vibrations, similar to the way in which a human finger uses similar vibrations to recognize textures. However, the robot finger is even more sensitive and also has the capability to identify in which direction forces are being applied and the temperature of the object being touched. […]
[read more] [USC] [SynTouch LLC] [paper]
(via emergentfutures)
