Have you ever imagined that someday there will be a metal-like object like a robot who can feel pain like us? If not then this news piece is for you.
The discovery is done by a team of researchers led by Ravinder Dahiya in the University of Glasgow’s James Watt School of Engineering.
The research team published a paper titled ‘ Printed Synaptic Transistors based Electronic Skin for Robots to Feel and Learn’ which explains the concept of pain in the robots. The research paper mentioned that the e- skins which use a grid of 168 Synaptic Transistors send signals. Synaptic Transistors are made from Zinc oxide nanowires which help to send signals.
The University of Glasgow tweeted on their account about the discovery mentioning that “A new type of electronic skin capable of feeling ‘pain’ could help create a new generation of smart robots and prosthetics.” The research is a pioneer for the future inventions of the concept of pain or any other human-like feelings in the robots.
The research led by an Indian origin researcher said “this can also lead to large-scale neuromorphic printed e-skin capable of responding appropriately to stimuli”.
The team was interviewed by PTI in which they said that they have been able to discover the process because of the concept of Electronic Skin which is capable of learning at a hardware level, moreover it does not need to send messages back and forth to the Central processor before taking action.
He further added that ” this learning helps to speed up the process by cutting down the cost of computation which is required in a normal way.”
Explaining how the system works, Dahiya said that when the sensor is alerted, it will automatically register the pressure which is on the nanowires and then replicate the same pressure as a sensation of touch. This is the same way neurons which are present in the human body work.
