ACM TechNews

Meet Robo Habilis

ICT Results (07/23/08)

The European research project SENSOPAC has developed a human-like arm and hand that is controlled by an electronic brain modeled after the human cerebellum. SENSOPAC coordinator Patrick van der Smagt led an international team of neuroscientists and roboticists in the effort to create an intelligent, flexible, and sensitive robotic arm. To develop a robotic skin as sensitive as human skin, the researchers studied how human skin senses features such as the direction pressure is coming from. To mimic the skin's sensing abilities, researchers at the German Aerospace Center created a thin, flexible material filled with a form of carbon that changes resistance under different pressures. The material allows researchers to combine information from sensors in different parts of the skin to minimize the number of information-carrying wires. "We can soon integrate hundreds of detector elements and get the information out with just five wires," van der Smagt says. "And we have the ability to distinguish between shape, the amount of force, and the direction of force." The artificial arm contains 58 motors in opposing pairs, coupled with non-linear springs to control the arm. The hand uses 38 opposing motors and can snap its fingers, pick up an egg, or carry a cup of coffee. The researchers say their goal is to create a microchip that will allow the arm to carry out tasks requiring human-level skills in a real-world setting.

http://cordis.europa.eu/ictresults/index.cfm/section/news/tpl/article/
BrowsingType/Features/ID/89906

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