Colour-changing Tactile Sensor Enables Robots to “See”

Engineers at Queen Mary University of London have developed a colour-changing tactile sensor that enables robots to “see” and touch in real-time. The sensor, invented by Giacomo Sasso, works by transforming invisible forces into dynamic colour patterns that a low-cost USB camera can capture and read in real-time. The sensor comprises a mechanochromic elastomeric layer, sandwiched between two additional elastomeric layers, and is described as a “stretchable mechanochromic Bragg reflector embedded between two soft silicone layers”. The device can track subtle variations in force, pointing to applications in precision assembly of micro-scale components and healthcare, such as giving artificial limbs a “richer sense of touch”. According to Sasso, the new technology can “reproduce such sensor density at comparable scale and simplicity” to human touch, with over 10,000 mechanoreceptors in the human hand. The development project involved researchers from the University of Florence, University of Trieste, and University of Trento in Italy, and the full paper is available on the American Association for the Advancement of Science website.