Scientists around the world are working on an artificial skin that will coat robots and help them feel and even feel pain. The development of this technology is essential to improve the robotization of the economy.
If an industrial robot has an artificial ‘skin’, the machine will be able to detect what type of material and texture it is working with, which will help it discern what force it applies to its work, in case it needs to manipulate objects with more or less delicacy. It will also allow them to record temperature changes and even avoid collisions and contact with people.
In fact, some of these machines are already capable of sweating to avoid overheating.
This is the purpose of this technological development, according to a report prepared by CNBC, which has summarized several of the initiatives and investigations that are being carried out in different cities around the globe, such as Munich, Boston or Japanese cities.
One of the most advanced investigations corresponds, precisely, with that of a team from the Technical University of Munich. There, work is being done on a synthetic skin made with hexagonal silicone ‘cells’, one inch in diameter, which will allow robots to detect contacts, acceleration, proximity or temperature.
Robots more efficient and safer, or closer to humans
The CNBC recalls in his article that the skin is the largest organ of the human being. John Yiannis Aloimonos, a professor in the Department of Computing Sciences at the University of Maryland, explains to the American environment that an artificial skin will allow robots “to perceive their surroundings in more detail and more sensitivity.” “It not only helps them move more safely, but it also makes them safer when working near people and gives them the ability to proactively anticipate and avoid potential accidents.”
An artificial skin will help machines to better understand human non-verbal communication. So machinery can distinguish between a punch and a pat on the back, exemplifies John Dolan, a researcher at the Carnegie Mellon Institute of Robotics. It is part of a technological discipline called “soft robotics” that tries to replicate the muscles and strength of the human being in machines.
Having this skin will not only help robots to be more effective in their jobs: it can also serve to make them more ‘human’. In fact, the North American medium stresses that some scientists have already done tests with meat-coated machines, although Open Robotics CEO Brian Gerkey assumes that the human or animal skin standard is practically “magic” and “not even close “the technology is – right now – at the height of proposing something similar.
This coincides with the vice president of the research committee of the International Federation of Robotics, Professor Jong-Oh Park, who summarizes the functioning of the skin as a programmed language in each strand of DNA in each living cell “on a nanometric scale”.
Robotics will inevitably impact the global job market. Already 2 years ago there were several little optimistic reports on the impact of the machines. A study by consulting firm McKinsey indicates that between 400 and 800 million jobs will be replaced by machines around the world by 2030. Another study carried out by a researcher from MIT and another from Yale University estimates that the entry in the United States of a new robot can kill almost six jobs.