Researchers are developing a kind of “robotic skin” that allows robots and robotic devices to “feel” touches.
According to this
article on TMCnet, the MIT (
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Alert) Media Lab has commissioned
Peratech Limited to develop this electronic “skin,” which will enable robots to detect not only that they have been touched, but where and how hard.
Playing a key role in the development of this “tactile robotic skin” is Peratech's patented
Quantum Tunnelling Composites, or “QTC” materials, which provide “a measured response to force and/or touch by changing electrical resistance -- much as a dimmer light switch controls a light bulb.”
According to the article, Peratech's QTC technology has already been used by NASA for its Robonaut device, and by Shadow Robot in the UK, which makes the world's most advanced robotic hand. This project with MIT, however, is a “world first in enabling a human to interact through touch across the body of a robot much as they would with another human.”
In related news Peratech Limited
announced today that it has signed a major licensing agreement with Samsung (
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Alert) Electro-mechanics (EM), which will use Peratech’s QTC technology in a range of pressure sensing components.
Specifically, Samsung Electro-mechanics will use Peratech's QTC switches in 5-way input devices, or Navikeys, that are used for menu navigation and interaction on mobile phones. Currently these devices use dome switches that allow current to flow when depressed giving a simple on/off operation. By using the QTC material, the buttons on these input devices can now be “pressure sensitive,” so that as more pressure is applied to the switch, more current flows.
“This adds a whole new dimension to the input device and this proportional input opens up a raft of new ways to interact with the phone,” Peratech states in a release.
'This is a very significant step for Peratech and we are delighted Samsung EM has chosen our QTC technology,” said Philip Taysom, joint CEO of Peratech, in the release. “It is a huge testament to the power and potential of QTC technology to not only replace traditional switches with more reliable switches but to also add new functionality so that better, more innovative products can be created with enhanced user interaction.”
“Samsung EM supplies components to most of the leading phone manufacturers so our technology will soon be used across a wide range of next generation phone models,” Taysom added. “In fact, a Navikey using QTC from Samsung EM is already being used into a Tier 1 mobile phone.”
