Flexible 'Skin' Can Help Robots, Prosthetics Perform Everyday Tasks by
  Sensing Shear Force
From: Medical Design Technology - 10/17/2017

If a robot is sent to disable a roadside bomb - or delicately handle an egg
while cooking you an omelet - it needs to be able to sense when objects are
slipping out of its grasp.

Yet to date it's been difficult or impossible for most robotic and prosthetic
hands to accurately sense the vibrations and shear forces that occur, for
example, when a finger is sliding along a tabletop or when an object begins
to fall.

Now, engineers from the University of Washington and UCLA have developed a
flexible sensor "skin" that can be stretched over any part of a robot's body
or prosthetic to accurately convey information about shear forces and
vibration that are critical to successfully grasping and manipulating objects.

"Robotic and prosthetic hands are really based on visual cues right now -
such as, 'Can I see my hand wrapped around this object?' or 'Is it touching
this wire?' But that's obviously incomplete information," said senior author
Jonathan Posner, a UW professor of mechanical engineering and of chemical
engineering.

Read the entire article at:
https://www.mdtmag.com/news/2017/10/flexible-skin-can-help-robots-prosthetics-perform-everyday-tasks-sensing-shear-force
https://www.ecnmag.com/news/2017/10/flexible-skin-can-help-robots-prosthetics-perform-everyday-tasks-sensing-shear-force
https://www.pddnet.com/news/2017/10/flexible-skin-could-help-robots-prosthetics-sense-shear-force

Links:
Bioinspired flexible microfluidic shear force sensor skin
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924424717304673

Jonathan Posner
https://www.me.washington.edu/people/faculty/jonathan_posner

Tactile Sensor Artificial Skin
http://posner.uw.edu/project/tactile-sensor-artificial-skin

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Flexible "Skin”" Senses Shear Force
From: Tech Briefs - 01/01/2018

This skin can help robots perform everyday tasks by sensing vibration and
force.

To date, it has been difficult or impossible for most robotic and prosthetic
hands to accurately sense the vibrations and shear forces that occur, for
example, when a finger is sliding along a tabletop, or when an object begins
to fall.

A flexible sensor “skin” was developed that can be stretched over any part of
a robot's body or prosthetic to accurately convey information about shear
forces and vibration that are critical to successfully grasping and
manipulating objects. The bio-inspired robot sensor skin mimics the way a
human finger experiences tension and compression as it slides along a surface
or distinguishes among different textures. It measures this tactile
information with similar precision and sensitivity as human skin, and could
vastly improve the ability of robots to perform surgical and industrial
procedures.

Read the entire article at:
https://www.techbriefs.com/component/content/article/tb/techbriefs/machinery-and-automation/28142

Links:
Jonathan Posner
https://www.me.washington.edu/people/faculty/jonathan_posner

Tactile Sensor for Artificial Skin
http://posner.uw.edu/project/tactile-sensor-artificial-skin