Electronic touch
A group of engineers from the National University of Singapore have developed a prototype of an artificial nervous system – Asynchronous Coded Electronic Skin (ACES), which has ultra-high tactile sensitivity and resistance to damage. ACES can be integrated into any device to work effectively as an electronic skin.
Faster than the nervous system
Inspired by the work of the human sensitive nervous system, researchers have been working for a year and a half to create a sensory system that could potentially work better than a human one. Unlike nerve bundles in human skin, ACES consists of a network of sensors connected by a single electrical conductor. It also differs from existing electronic analogues, which consist of interconnected wired systems and are therefore less resistant to damage.
ACES can recognize touch more than 1000 times faster than the human nervous system. For example, it is able to differentiate physical contact between different sensors in less than 60 nanoseconds – this is faster than the response time ever achieved for electronic skin technology. ACES-enabled skin can also accurately detect the shape, texture and density of objects within 10 milliseconds. Such a fast response is ensured by high accuracy and speed of data processing.
The ACES platform can be modified to provide resistance to physical damage – an important property for electronic skin, since it often comes into contact with the environment. All sensors in ACES can be connected to a common conductor, and each sensor operates independently. This allows ACES-enabled skin to continue functioning as long as there is at least one connection between the sensor and the conductor. This makes ACES more resistant to damage.
Smart electronic skin for robots and prosthetics
ACES has a simple wiring system and maintains a high response rate even with an increase in the number of sensors. Such characteristics make it possible to expand the capabilities of intelligent electronic devices for the operation of artificial intelligence in robots, prostheses and other human-computer interfaces. How the prototype of the electronic skin works can be found here.
ACES architecture for covering a large area with the possibility of single-wire transmission. Source: article in the journal Science Robotics.
Another important factor is scalability, since electronic skin must cover relatively large areas of robots and prostheses. ACES can also be easily connected to any type of sensor layers designed, for example, to measure temperature or humidity.
The combination of ACES with a transparent self-healing moisture-resistant sensitive layer will allow you to create an electronic skin as close as possible to a human one. This type of electronic skin can be used to create prosthetic limbs that will help patients restore their sense of touch.
Other potential applications include the development of intelligent robots that can perform disaster recovery tasks or perform routine operations such as packing goods in a warehouse.
The developers plan to further develop technologies for modern robots and prostheses on the ACES platform.
Article by W. W. Lee et al. A neuro-inspired artificial peripheral nervous system for scalable electronic skins is published in the journal Science Robotics.
Aminat Adzhieva, portal "Eternal Youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of NUS News: Exceptional sense of touch for robots, prosthetics.