Robots get sensitive

July 1, 2004 | Source: Nature Science Update

An electronic skin as sensitive to touch as our own is being developed for robots by scientists in Japan.

It consists of a sheet of rubbery polymer, impregnated with flakes of electrically conducting graphite. The electrical resistance of the sheet changes when it is squeezed, and this change is detected by an array of transistors beneath the rubber.

The skin could also find applications in sport, security and medicine.