Electronic Skin , Self-healing electronic skin will help robots have a sense of touch like humans , II Electronic Skin That Can Sense Touch And Temperature And Heal Itself
In the future, your robot babysitter will be able to tell if your child has a fever.
Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder say they’ve developed the first fully rehealable and recyclable electronic skin, or e-skin. The technology mimics the functions and mechanical properties of human skin, capable of measuring pressure, temperature, and vibration. E-skin dates back to 2011, but this version can be reused, reducing waste and manufacturing costs.
It has a range of applications, from prosthetics to biomedicine, which were detailed in the study published by Science Advances. Imagine a prosthetic arm or leg wrapped in the electronic skin, allowing its wearer to respond to temperature and pressure changes. E-skin is made out of a polymer and silver nanoparticles, which help it conform to intricate, curved spaces like fingers or toes.
Perhaps e-skin’s most remarkable application—or its most disconcerting, depending whom you ask—is in robotics. Jianliang Xiao, a mechanical engineer at the University of Colorado Boulder and the leader of the study, said that e-skin could lead to safer interactions between humans and robots in the future.
“Sensing is critical because when human beings interact with robots, we want to make sure that robots don’t hurt people,” Xiao told Newsweek. “When the baby is sick, the robot can just use a finger to touch the surface…it can tell what the temperature of the baby is.”
That’s right, folks: In the future, when they take care of our childrenand the elderly, robots may be wrapped in an electronic skin that imitates our own, ensuring that they don’t accidentally kill your loved one with too much or too little force. The same concept can be applied to prosthetics: When an artificial limb is wrapped in e-skin, it can theoretically sense when something is too hot or too cold, or if more or less pressure needs to be exerted on an object.
The e-skin detailed in the study can heal itself when damaged. If it’s damaged beyond repair, the e-skin can be soaked in a solution that separates out the silver nanoparticles and then be fully recycled into a new, usable e-skin.
University of Colorado Boulder researchers have developed a new type of malleable, self-healing and fully recyclable "electronic skin" that has applications ranging from robotics and prosthetic development to better biomedical devices.
Electronic skin, known as e-skin, is a thin, translucent material that can mimic the function and mechanical properties of human skin. A number of different types and sizes of wearable e-skins are now being developed in labs around the world as researchers recognize their value in diverse medical, scientific and engineering fields.
The new CU Boulder e-skin has sensors embedded to measure pressure, temperature, humidity and air flow, said Assistant Professor Jianliang Xiao, who is leading the research effort with CU Boulder chemistry and biochemistry Associate Professor Wei Zhang. It has several distinctive properties, including a novel type of covalently bonded dynamic network polymer, known as polyimine that has been laced with silver nanoparticles to provide better mechanical strength, chemical stability and electrical conductivity.
"What is unique here is that the chemical bonding of polyimine we use allows the e-skin to be both self-healing and fully recyclable at room temperature," said Xiao. "Given the millions of tons of electronic waste generated worldwide every year, the recyclability of our e-skin makes good economic and environmental sense."
A paper on the subject was published today in the journal Science Advances. Co-authors on the study include Zhanan Zou and Yan Li of mechanical engineering and Chengpu Zhu and Xingfeng Lei of chemistry and biochemistry. The study was funded in part by the National Science Foundation.
Many people are familiar with the movie The Terminator, in which the skin of film's main villain is "re-healed" just seconds after being shot, beaten or run over, said Zhang. While the new process is not nearly as dramatic, the healing of cut or broken e-skin, including the sensors, is done by using a mix of three commercially available compounds in ethanol, he said.
Another benefit of the new CU Boulder e-skin is that it can be easily conformed to curved surfaces like human arms and robotic hands by applying moderate heat and pressure to it without introducing excessive stresses.
"Let's say you wanted a robot to take care of a baby," said Zhang. "In that case you would integrate e-skin on the robot fingers that can feel the pressure of the baby. The idea is to try and mimic biological skin with e-skin that has desired functions."
To recycle the skin, the device is soaked into recycling solution, making the polymers degrade into oligomers (polymers with polymerization degree usually below 10) and monomers (small molecules that can be joined together into polymers) that are soluble in ethanol. The silver nanoparticles sink to the bottom of the solution.
The thought is that such e-skin can eventually cover prosthetic devices such as artificial limbs or robots to make them more lifelike and give them added functionality. Also, such e-skin may eventually replace the covering of electronic devices and equipment, thereby providing surfaces that are more pleasant to touch, may interact more with the user, and can repair themselves. Yes, picture all of the objects around you feeling more like skin or your smartphone saying, "hey, that tickles." The possibilities are fascinating and in some cases a bit creepy.
Of course, the current version does not completely look, feel, or act like real skin. So maybe you are not quite ready to build a Terminator that looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Kristanna Loken. But it's a step towards that direction.
The new CU Boulder e-skin has sensors embedded to measure pressure, temperature, humidity and air flow, said Assistant Professor Jianliang Xiao, who is leading the research effort with CU Boulder chemistry and biochemistry Associate Professor Wei Zhang. It has several distinctive properties, including a novel type of covalently bonded dynamic network polymer, known as polyimine that has been laced with silver nanoparticles to provide better mechanical strength, chemical stability and electrical conductivity.
"What is unique here is that the chemical bonding of polyimine we use allows the e-skin to be both self-healing and fully recyclable at room temperature," said Xiao. "Given the millions of tons of electronic waste generated worldwide every year, the recyclability of our e-skin makes good economic and environmental sense."
A paper on the subject was published today in the journal Science Advances. Co-authors on the study include Zhanan Zou and Yan Li of mechanical engineering and Chengpu Zhu and Xingfeng Lei of chemistry and biochemistry. The study was funded in part by the National Science Foundation.
Many people are familiar with the movie The Terminator, in which the skin of film's main villain is "re-healed" just seconds after being shot, beaten or run over, said Zhang. While the new process is not nearly as dramatic, the healing of cut or broken e-skin, including the sensors, is done by using a mix of three commercially available compounds in ethanol, he said.
Another benefit of the new CU Boulder e-skin is that it can be easily conformed to curved surfaces like human arms and robotic hands by applying moderate heat and pressure to it without introducing excessive stresses.
"Let's say you wanted a robot to take care of a baby," said Zhang. "In that case you would integrate e-skin on the robot fingers that can feel the pressure of the baby. The idea is to try and mimic biological skin with e-skin that has desired functions."
To recycle the skin, the device is soaked into recycling solution, making the polymers degrade into oligomers (polymers with polymerization degree usually below 10) and monomers (small molecules that can be joined together into polymers) that are soluble in ethanol. The silver nanoparticles sink to the bottom of the solution.
Want to make your own Terminator? You may need some skin in the game. (Photo by Casey Rodgers/Invision for Paramount Home Entertainment/AP Images)
Of course, the current version does not completely look, feel, or act like real skin. So maybe you are not quite ready to build a Terminator that looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Kristanna Loken. But it's a step towards that direction.
No comments
Post a Comment