Robotic technology is advancing all the time, but things are getting slightly scary now that ‘humanlike’ skin has been developed for robots with the ability to ‘self-heal’ in an engineering breakthrough.
We are all familiar with early robots which have a frame consisting of an aluminum body of armor, but robots of the future could be wrapped in lifelike skin that can repair itself. Cool but creepy, right? Japanese scientists have discovered methods using a combination of cultured cells and silicone that could help robots appear more human, thanks to realistic skin elasticity on mechanical heads.
Artificially-grown skin injected into robot’s skeleton
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a method that involves injecting artificially grown skin into tiny holes in a robot’s skeleton, so the skin can extend v-shaped hooks known as “perforation-type anchors” and bind to the surface without drooping away.
A robot is a machine capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. Using a novel approach involving cultured skin cells, the machines could be wrapped in lifelike skin that can repair itself, similarly to the way human skin heals.
A Cell Reports Physical Science00335-7?utmcampaign=Press%20Package&utmmedium=email&hsenc=p2ANqtz-9YQpkFoaGLi5FU5eR9L-FqOCnSL8Xar9I5dMM3-usxF0lw4cRm-m0usk9P0YEbKKMuHhIF9mmojX8umOh-hN0gFh07XLqaJBs-aisr6yrVPT8ZGw&hsmi=312632330&utmcontent=312632330&utmsource=hsemail#figures) article explains researchers’ findings of perforation-type anchors that are inspired by skin ligament for a robotic face covered with living skin.
Skin equivalent is a living skin model composed of cells and extracellular matrix that possesses the potential to be an ideal covering material for robots due to its biological functionalities.
Researchers reveal the robot skin will also appear more lifelike thanks to a new way of attaching it to the robot’s skeleton, as well the fact that it can repair any cuts or scrapes by itself.
The artificial skin is layered on top of a robot treated with a water-vapor plasma to make it hydrophilic (ensuring that liquids are attracted to the surface), resulting in the cultured skin’s gel being pulled deeper into the holes to cling more closely to the surface of the robot.
One of the main benefits of this new skin technology would mean that when operating alongside humans, the robot’s small tears could be repaired without needing to manually repair the machine.
Robotic smile also discovered in engineering breakthrough
It comes after a robotic smile could lead to new developments, say grafts onto humanoid machines.
The researchers at the University of Tokyo discovered how to bind lab-grown skin to mechanical faces to recreate the way skin changes when a human smiles – allowing the robots to make humanlike facial expressions.
By connecting the artificial skin to the robotic face with a sliding layer of silicone underneath, this leads to “inflating cheeks”, as the muscles tighten and cause the skin to push up at either corner of the mouth. With the perforation anchors, the skin could seamlessly fit the 3D mold of a face, with no protruding bolts or hooks.
The breakthrough will pave the way for creating more convincing humanoid robots – bringing increased mobility and embedded sensing capabilities.
Scientists also suggest that the engineering enhancement holds promise for the cosmetics industry and for the training of plastic surgeons.
