Oscillating gel acts like artificial skin, giving robots potential ability to 'feel'
Thursday, March 29, 2012 - 16:30
in Physics & Chemistry
Sooner than later, robots may have the ability to "feel." In a paper published online March 26 in Advanced Functional Materials, a team of researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) demonstrated that a nonoscillating gel can be resuscitated in a fashion similar to a medical cardiopulmonary resuscitation. These findings pave the way for the development of a wide range of new applications that sense mechanical stimuli and respond chemicallya natural phenomenon few materials have been able to mimic.