Scientists have developed a soft
robotic hand that can feel its surroundings internally, just as humans, and
performs tasks like picking out ripe tomatoes. Most robots achieve grasping and
tactile sensing through motorized means, which can b excessively bulky and
rigid. Researchers from Cornell University in the US, led by assistant
professor Robert Shepherd, showed how stretchable optical waveguides can act as
curvature, elongation and force sensors in a soft robotic hand. Most robots
today have sensors on the outside if the bodies that detect things form the
surface. These sensors are integrated within the body, so they can actually
detect forces being transmitted through the thickness of the robot, a lot like
we and all organisms do when we feel pain. Optical waveguides have been in use
since the 1970s for numerous sensing functions. The team used its prosthesis to
perform many tasks, including probing for shape and texture. The hand was able
to scan tomatoes and determine, by softness, which was the ripest.
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