How Androids Gain a Sense of Touch and How It Will Help Us

Skin protects people from viruses and bacteria, helps them not to overheat and adapt to environmental conditions. At first glance, it may seem that robots, unlike us, do not need all this. But this is only at first glance: although people create robots for narrow tasks, mechanical “skin” is becoming more complex every year.

In this article we will tell you why people are working on the “skin” of androids, what it was made of before and now, and how it is useful for humanity.

Why are people working on android “skin”

In humans, skin performs several functions at once, which are difficult to reproduce. With robots, everything was much simpler at first: it is enough if the robot looks good, because appearance is not the main thing.

Everything changed when Westinghouse entered the market, using robots to advertise its brand and popularize robotics.

There was no talk of mass production of robots of this type at that time: they were still clumsy, not very useful in the household and very expensive. However, they performed their function – to make the Westinghouse company famous – brilliantly.

Another, scientific and applied reason: not all tasks can be performed by robots relying only on internal programs. In order to teach them complex actions, it is necessary to endow them with a sense of touch, that is, to make their perception as close as possible to human. After this, the capabilities of androids will increase several times. They will become much more dexterous and will be able to do almost everything that people can do. Assembling small parts, caring for the sick, working with fragile things – now they can do it. Androids will feel what they are touching and act carefully or strongly, as needed. In general, they will become much more useful and convenient to use.

Mechanical and Metallic: What the First Android “Skin” Was Made of

At first, the robots' coverings were not very diverse: most often they used one or another type of metal. A little later, robots with “skin” made of rubber and synthetic materials appeared. Below are examples of how all this looked in real life.

Wooden and metal “skin”: brother and sister Televox and a robot conductor

One of the first androids – Herbert Televoxwhich was invented by Roy James Wensley of Westinghouse. The robot's name is a play on the Latin word “vox,” meaning “voice.” The robot was created in 1927, and Wensley patented the devices on which it worked in 1929 and 1930.

At first, Herbert Televox could only answer the phone. Later, he was hired to work at the reservoir and taught to inform his human colleagues about the water level and speed.

The Televox's covering was made of wood and metal, and its unsightly appearance was compensated for by large-scale advertising campaigns.

In 1930, Herbert got a “sister”: Westinghouse released another robot, Katrina Van Televox. It was not possible to find reliable information about the type of coating, but most likely it was approximately the same as that of its “brother”: wood and metal.

Katrina was able answer phone calls, turn on the vacuum cleaner and make coffee. The cost, at that time, was almost astronomical: 22,000 dollars.

Another example is the Soviet one android conductorwhich was created in the 70s children in Kaliningrad. It was made of aluminum, meaning the “skin” was completely metallic.

The android worked on a bus that took children to kindergartens. It could accept payment and issue tickets, turn its head, blink, announce stops, tell stories and hold a conversation. It didn’t matter that the driver communicated with the little passengers on a “free topic” through a microphone built into the design: the robot could do everything else itself.

Rubber “skin”: Android Rastus

Android Rastus appeared in 1930, also in the Westinghouse company. Due to the rubber coating, it looked more realistic than Televox. It could stand up, sit down and even hold a conversation. True, it needed prompts: lines and commands were launched when someone directed a beam of light at one or another photocell.

Synthetic “skin”: Japan's Marilyn Monroe

IN In 1982 Japanese scientist Shunichi Mizuno made a robot with the appearance of Marilyn Monroe – and in life size. The female android could wink, shrug her shoulders and sing a song, playing the guitar. A micro-compressor regulated facial expressions, and the scientist, in his opinion, developed synthetic skin. wordsspent 8 years.

What kind of “skin” do androids have now and what is it made of?

Nowadays, “skin” is being developed in many countries. However, it cannot be said that someone has managed to find a universal solution: for now, coatings solve one or another problem, and do not perform several functions at once. However, of course, this is a matter of time.

Skin that regenerates itself

One of the features of human skin is the ability to heal cuts. Scientists who work with robot skins have found two materials that could be used in the future to create self-healing robot skin.

The first material is graphene. It is a one-atom-thick layer of graphite, similar in structure to a honeycomb. It has many interesting properties: for example, graphene remains solid at a temperature of 3000 degrees Celsius. In 2016, researchers from India discoveredthat cracks on the graphene surface “heal” on their own at room temperature, and most importantly, without the influence of any external stimuli.

The second material is “self-healing (SH) polymers.” Researchers from Belgium designed prototypes of muscles and a soft flexible hand. Unlike the graphene coating, the polymer “skin” is restored only when heated – but it is restored.

What opportunities does this provide: If an android with this type of “skin” gets hurt by broken glass or, as happens with humans, by the edge of a piece of paper, the wound will heal. A coating that can restore itself will at least reduce downtime. At most, it will protect the robot from serious damage.

Skin that feels warmth and “sees”

This is a property that scientists from Italy, the USA and Switzerland “spied” in nature. Snakes have membranes, thanks to which they not only sense the slightest changes in temperature, but also “see” prey from a distance.

Researchers developed the finest pectin-based material that could detect temperature differences of just 0.001 Kelvin. This means that such skin will be twice as sensitive as human skin.

What opportunities does this provide: Robots will be able to search for people under rubble and during a fire, when visibility is reduced due to smoke.

Skin that feels water and wind

By exploring the world by touch, living beings receive information not only about temperature, but also about the shape of an object, the quality of its surface, and much more. Scientists from China created “skin” that can detect the slightest pressure – in particular, wind and the movement of an ant.

The material consists of magnetic sensors, membranes and beads. At the moment of contact, the membranes are pressed and move the beads towards the sensors. The resulting resistance is recoded into impulses – they reflect the degree of pressure felt by the “skin”.

What opportunities does this provide: Robots will be able to perform complex movements without damaging themselves or anything they touch.

Skin that helps you move

And this is an example where researchers worked not so much on the material as on the form. What happens if you combine a snake and a kirigami? This is probably what the scientists at Harvard were thinking when in 2019 made a robot that can crawl. The cuts on the “skin” help not only to slide, but also, by analogy with the scales of a snake, to maintain traction with the surface.

What opportunities does this provide: A robot of this type will be able to move easily on an inclined surface, which means it can work in a wide variety of environmental conditions.

Skin that stretches

As often happens, nature has already found solutions to many problems that people are only just beginning to look for. Thus, researchers from the USA, working on stretchable “skin”, took as a basis features of the octopus' structure. As a result, they managed to create a synthetic material that can not only stretch and shrink, but also camouflage itself in the environment.

What opportunities does this provide: Robots with such a coating will at least be able to record the behavior of animals without disturbing them.

Skin that makes you smile

It's just like with people: it's not enough to just do your job well. One of the tasks that decided Scientists from Japan, working on “skin” – how to teach a robot to smile. The researchers used collagen and created an imitation of connective tissues that held the material to the surface.

What opportunities does this provide: more friendly robots will be able to work in the social sphere, and people will treat them warmer (but this is not certain).

How does all this relate to people?

Developments in the field of “skin” help not only to create different types of robots, but also open up new opportunities for humans themselves. We will tell you about the opportunities that have appeared for humanity below.

Make prosthetics that help you feel the world

Developments in the field of artificial “skin” help not only to create different types of robots, but also open up new possibilities for humans themselves. For example, scientists from Sweden developed a prototype of a prosthetic hand that uses artificial skin technology. Thanks to this, people who need such a prosthesis will be able to feel the world. Moreover, the prosthesis will feel like part of the body.

The prototype consists of three parts: the “skin”, a set of artificial neurons and a processor. The sensor made it possible to encode tactile information in milliseconds – just like the nervous system.

It has not yet been possible to achieve complete similarity with the hand, but the prosthesis is already capable of grasping 22 objects and recognizing 16. According to scientists, the number of objects that the artificial hand can recognize is potentially unlimited.

A different approach to developing prostheses used researchers from Scotland. They took graphene as a basis, one of the properties of which is almost complete transparency. This became the key: photocells were placed under the graphene surface, which allowed the “skin” not only to feel, but also to be charged by the sun.

Find ways to adapt to high temperatures

Answer to the question “What to do if the Earth gets too hot?” are looking for researchers from the USA. Fortunately, in addition to life, the Universe and everything else, they are interested in things that can be implemented in the near future. How to protect yourself from heat stroke? And if the heat is not dry, but humid? What kind of clothing should you wear to help you not overheat? At what point should construction workers take a break so as not to collapse from the heat? And what about athletes?

Researchers have created a robot, ANDI (Advanced Newton Dynamic Instrument), that can sweat. It sounds funny, but it is very useful: with its help, scientists can model different types of thermoregulation. For example, with age, people sweat less – which means they need different protection from overheating.

Apologize for us and clean up the ocean

Not only to clean, but also to find sources of minerals without harming underwater inhabitants. Scientists from the USA developed not only sensitive, but also waterproof “skin” of robots.

The sense of touch will make the touch accurate, and moisture protection will allow working underwater. In addition, thanks to this type of “skin”, robots will be able to distinguish living from non-living – which means the risk of dragging Cthulhu onto dry land is significantly reduced.

Testing cosmetics on artificial skin instead of people and animals

Scientists who taught robots to smile, see the potential of “skin” not only in more pleasant communication between people and machines. When it is possible to refine the material so that it has analogues of sweat glands, blood vessels and pores, people will be able to leave each other and animals behind – and finally test cosmetics without causing harm to anyone.

For ethical reasons, we have not touched upon other aspects of human life in which tactile sensations from androids will be important in this article, but you are welcome to mention them in the comments 🙂

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